Sketch of a stage property representing a cart. (Courtesy of The Nogami Memorial Noh Theatre Research Institute of Hōsei University)
In nō, large stage properties are known as tsukurimono. These range from slightly under two meters in height (tall enough for an actor to stand inside) to low platforms. Some are highly elaborate, like the large revolving prayer wheel in Rinzō, but the majority are minimal frameworks decorated with an identifying object attached: a hut, a tree, or a cave. Their size and purpose determine where they are placed on the stage. Generally, they may be categorized into four groups: large frames, small frames, platforms, and vehicles.
Large rectangular frames
Frames with a square base of bent bamboo, vertical poles, and upper support provide a core for various properties. Parts are modified to fit the specific piece. Properties large enough for an actor to stand inside can represent huts, grave mounds, caves, and boulders. Attaching small identifying items to the basic frame changes its character: adding a roof transforms the frame into a hut (Ikuta Atsumori). Covering the sides with twigs creates a rustic lodging (Hibariyama). Lacing paper webbing over the front turns the structure into a spider’s lair (Tsuchigumo).
Illustrations from Nōtsukurimono-zu (Hosei Nōgaku kenkyūsho)
Huts might have a straw roof on top (Higaki, Kagekiyo, Ashikari), while palaces have gabled roofs with green cloth covering the center and red bands laced through the decorative structural edges. Properties representing tombs often have rounded tops. Complementing the text, the tsukurimono lends an extra layer of visual realism. In the play Teika, a vine known as teika kazura grows up the framework and spills over the upper portion. In the play Saigyō zakura, a similarly shaped framework has dangling cherries branches, and the property for Yugyō Yanagi has weeping willow branches streaming down its sides. The identity of the property depends primarily on these extra embellishments, which play a symbolic role that references the narrative.
Large properties, which generally are set in the upstage area, often function as an alternative entrance or exit venue for a character. A character is hidden within a curtained structure typically is heard before being seen. Whether the draped cloth is slowly lowered or swiftly removed reflects the mood and character of the figure revealed. Dynamic variations include a rock that splits open to reveal a malevolent spirit (Sesshōseki) and lifting a fallen bell to reveal a vengeful snake-like spirit (Dōjōji).
Small frames with symbolic decorations, site structures
Small frames often support a symbolic object, such as an arrow (Kamo), or a pine tree (Matsukaze, Hagoromo). These tsukurimono are generally set at downstage center and draw the focus of the action to the front. Imagery accumulates around the property. In Kamo, a shrine priest notices an arrow set beside the river. He asks about it and is told the story of the miraculous conception of the Kamo deity from an arrow that floated down the river. Small structures indicating place are not limited to stands, but include, for instance, the torii shrine gate used in Nonomiya. The overlay of imagery often comes together in a final moment when the shite may have physical contact with the property (Izutsu,Nonomiya).
Platforms
Platforms (ichijō-dai, lit. “one-tatami platform”) are wooden structures covered in red cloth at the top, and blue or green cloth decorated with gold or silver and black patterns at the sides. Platforms create a miniature stage inside the main stage. The size of a tatami mat (about 100 x 190 cm), they can be set almost anywhere on the stage, either individually, in combination. These platforms are used to represent a great variety of objects. If used alone they usually represent a raised place, which could be pavilions in a palace (Raiden), a mountain, or a workshop (Kokaji). Platforms are often used in combination with other objects in order to create more complex properties. Holes in each corner allow for poles or tree branches to be added (Tsurukame, Shakkyō or Tanikō). In addition, other tsukurimono, such as huts can be placed on top of a platform, suggesting their elevated location (Momijigari). In Tsuchigumo, the spider’s lair is placed on a platform enhancing the height and allowing for dramatic spider-like jumps to and from the platform. In Sesshōseki placing the large rock in which the malevolent spirit resides on top of a platform achieves a similar sense of height, size, and formidability.
Shakkyō. Shite: Udaka Michishige. Tsure: Udaka Tatsushige. Photo: I. Wong
Vehicles: carriages and boats
Vehicles, such as carriages or boats, are often placed on stage only for a specific scene. In Yuya, when the courtesan makes her way through the streets of the capital, she steps into a covered oxcart that has been brought out for the scene. The elaborate carriage enhances the poetically colorful highlight scene. A similar carriage is used in the kuruma-dashi-no-den variation performance of Nonomiya for the entrance and exit of the shite in the second act, referencing carriage imagery in the text.
Boats are constructed from square bamboo frames with rounded extensions rising to the front and back. This basic boat form is used in Chikubushima, Shunkan, and Funa Benkei. When the type of boat is significant, identifying features are added. The fishing boat in Michimori has a fire basket to attract fish at night. The sailing ship in Tōsen is equipped with mast and sail. Clackers and a drum for chasing birds are loaded on the “bird-chasing” boat in Tori oi-bune. The boat in Kuzu has a cloth covering over a structure similar to that depicted below in the upper part of the left page. In Kuzu an old man and woman (deities in disguise) enter punting down the river. When they meet the emperor trying to escape into the Yoshino mountains, they go ashore and feed him a fish. Later, armed men approach. Quickly the couple turns their boat upside down and hides the emperor (child actor) under the cloth-covered boat. The placement of a boat on stage indicates the presence of water and its boundaries. For instance, in Shunkan, an emissary from the capital bearing pardons for men exiled to “Devil’s Island” anchors his boat on the bridge in front of the first pine. The stage itself is island shore, the bridge ocean.
The current nō repertory (genkō yōkyoku 現行謡曲) contains about 200 plays. The great majority of plays is performed by all five shite schools. However, plays in the full repertory may or may not be performed in each school or may be performed according to categorization and performance practices specific to the particular school.
The canon of approximately 250 classical plays, most of which date from the 14th to 16th centuries, was established during the Edo Period based on lists provided by actors to the shogunal government. Allocation into the five categories (goban date) was part of this process. Plays that were not selected for canonical status are known as bangai yōkyoku (番外謡曲).
During the Edo period, performers were responsible for the pieces in their repertory and were expected to be able to perform any of them with just a day’s notice. A full master today generally knows by heart around a hundred of the more commonly performed plays and can perform, with some notice, the entire repertory.
The chart “Nō plays with basic information” indicates the category to which a play belongs and the schools that perform it. The data below follows the Kanze shite school tradition.
In the Edo period, the shogunate, in conjunction with performers, systematized nō and formed an official canon. They established five categories (gobandate 五番立) of plays and ordered them with the idea that a day’s program would progress from a first-category play featuring deities through a fifth-category play centered on such characters as vanquishing demons. Between these two groups of plays with supernatural themes, they placed plays with protagonists who were human (or ghosts of humans) – warriors (second-category plays) and women (third-category plays) – as well as plays taking place in the present time. Some plays, however, proved difficult to categorize, and others were given two or more alternative categorizations. As a result, plays in the fourth and fifth categories may contain protagonists with similar general attributes but who are expressed through different styles. The five-category system was derived from earlier classifications reaching back to Zeami’s time. It remains in use today and provides a general key to the content, diction, and performance style of a play.
In spite of the apparent clarity of the system, two plays with the same protagonist or with similar content might be categorized differently due to their modes of presentation. For instance, a second-category warrior play, like Atsumori or Tadanori, presents the warrior as a ghost suffering in warrior’s hell. The ghost appears and narrates a battle scene taking various roles – his adversary as well as himself – as he acts out the scene. In a fifth-category play, like Funa Benkei, based on the same warrior narratives about wars that took place in the twelfth century, the battle scene is portrayed in real time with swords clashing and two or more people meeting in combat. Aside from presenting diverse aspects or points of reference in the lives of protagonists, the several schools of nō performers may interpret and perform the same play differently and thus place a particular play in the category that best accords with the spirit of their interpretation.
Mugen and Genzai
In 1926, the nō scholar Sanari Kentaro introduced the idea of mugen nō 夢幻能 , often translated as “dream vision nō”. These plays generally involve a revelation that the shite belongs to a different time dimension. The shite may be a deity whose appearance is a miraculous vision; the shite may be the spirit of a plant; the shite may be a ghost who seeks enlightenment, reminiscing about life experiences or intent on retribution. The appearance of these non-human characters is often understood as a manifestation from the waki’s dream. Transformation, revelation, and memory play important roles in the conceptualization of these plays.
In 1957, the scholar Yokomichi Mario elaborated the concept of mugen nō by introducing the idea of plays that take place in real time, or genzai nō 現在能. In these plays, the shite is a living character and action follows a chronological order. Yokomichi noted that some nō plays defy this two-group classification and that other plays contain elements of both possibilities, an example being Kinuta, which takes place in present time in the first act but features the appearance of a ghost in the second.
Combining these two systems of categorization, one finds that first-category plays present deities appearing in miraculous vision (mugen nō). Second-category plays where a ghost narrates a past event are generally mugen nō, as are third-category plays which mostly feature ghosts of women. Plays from the fourth and fifth categories include the majority of genzai nō, but also contain mugen nō.
In the first few decades of the 16th century, a number of encyclopedic works on nō were compiled from older records and oral traditions.[1] Altogether, more than 350 plays are listed, together with information about authorship and performance details. Plays mentioned in these works can confidently be dated to the early or middle of the Muromachi period (1336-1573), and it is worth noting that the number well exceeds the current repertoire of the 254 plays that are still in the modern performance tradition, the so-called genkō yōkyoku 現行謡曲.[2]
By the end of the Muromachi period, as many as 760 plays can be found in another work of this kind.[3] Texts survive for a large majority of the additional plays, as well as the great number produced from the late 16th century onwards. Estimates as to the total number of surviving plays have been revised upwards from 2500 – ten times the number in the current repertoire – to a figure in excess of 3000.[4] By no means were all or most of them performed widely, many may in fact have been written by or for amateurs who wanted plays on a given subject for su-utai 素謡 recitation, singing without costumes or accompaniment of drum and flute.
There is thus a vast corpus of plays that have fallen out of the performance tradition, or were never really part of it in the first place. Such plays are known as bangai yōkyoku 番外謡曲, “extra-repertory” (or “non-canonical”) nō plays. The best—and almost only—reference for bangai nō is vols 20-22 of the Mikan yōkyoku shū未刊謡曲集(続) by Tanaka Makoto (Tokyo: Koten bunko, 1987). It has bibliographic information, but lacks summaries and annotation. The manuscripts are ordered roughly from earlier to later, and it omits works published previously.
Notes
[1] Nōhon sakusha chūmon 能本作者註文 (colophon dated 1524), Jika denshō 自家伝抄 (colophons dated 1414, 1489, and 1516), and Bugei rokurin shidai 舞芸六輪次第 (ca. 1510s).
[2] The current number of plays in the performance tradition of the five schools is some 254, give or take a few that are either brought back into the repertoire (fukkyoku 復曲) or dropped from active performance (haikyoku 廃曲). By comparison, as many as 548 are printed in the Meiji-period Hakubunkan edition (Haga and Sasaki 1913-1915), while the premodern encyclopedic Nōhon sakusha chūmon, Jika denshō, and Bugei rokurin shidai list 350, 346, and 207 plays respectively. Watanabe 1995, pp. 202-203.
[3] Iroha shakusha chūmon いろは作者註文 (before 1570), available in an annotated edition (Tanaka 1978).
[4] Nishino Haruo gives the figure of 2500 (Nishino and Hada 1997: 282), but now suggests that the total number is at least 3000 (personal correspondence, 2005).
Ōkura Secret Record of Tsukurimono (大蔵流作り物秘録) (Courtesy of the The Nogami Memorial Noh Theatre Research Institute of Hōsei University)
Small properties, or kodōgu, might be categorized as follows: ubiquitous stage tools not tied to a single play, like the round lacquered storage box (shōgi) used as a seat in noh and variously in kyōgen; items held in the hand or strapped to the body and listed among the costumes, like nets, lanterns, umbrellas, rakes, brooms, bows, arrows, hatchets, and Shinto purification wands (hei), as well as swords and small drums; and properties brought out for a single scene, enhancing the scene with color and providing memorable visual focus that becomes emblematic of the play.
Tools often serve as a central image of a single scene. The thread winder used in Kurozuka (alternate name Adachigahara) is a good example. As discussed also in Role of Stage Properties, in the “Thread scene”, a countrywoman tells a weary tale while winding thread onto a frame-spool. Her eyes follow the thread from skein holder to spool as she rotates the spool. This tool is a real-life object, prevalent even today in country houses where weaving is still done.
Kurozuka. Shite: Udaka Tatsushige. Photo: F. M. Fioravanti
Two scenes in Shunkan focus on small properties. Exiled to “Devil’s Island”, Shunkan serves his two companions make-believe tea from a water bucket. He “pours” it into an open fan held out horizontally as if it were a cup. The second scene focuses on reading a document. When an envoy appears with a written reprieve, Shunkan reads the letter searching for his name, but unable to find it he stands up, throwing the paper into the air in disbelief.
Shunkan. Shite: Udaka Michishige. Photo: F. M. Fioravanti
Shunkan. Shite: Udaka Michishige. Photo: F. M. Fioravanti
Tools and instruments
Hand properties are treated as costume items. The majority of these items serve to identify the character, even if manipulated only briefly during the performance. For instance, the old man cleaning the shrine grounds in Takasago carries a rake. His raking leaves under a pine tree forms a high point during the first act. Similarly, the two women appearing in Kamo carry pails to dip water from the river. As in Matsukaze, in Kamo a long sung passage precedes the actual action of dipping water. In other nō the shite carries a dedicatory item when visiting a shrine or temple. Typically this is sacred water (Miwa) or a sakaki branch (Nonomiya, Tomoe). Once presented to the shrine or temple it is no longer needed and taken away by the stage attendant.
Hand-held properties can reference the profession of a character: The reed cutter in Ashikari carries reeds on his way home. The old man in Tadanori enters the stage with a faggot of twigs he has collected in the mountains. As soon as the old man begins to talk with the priest, he puts down his burden and lets down his sleeves because he is finished working. No longer necessary, the faggots are removed by a stage assistant. Similarly, the Field Ranger guarding the gate to hell in Nomori carries a magic mirror that reflects the truth about a person’s life.
Hand-held objects that substitute for the fan also indicate aspects of character: “Crazed” women in “madwoman plays” (kyōjomono) carry a bamboo branch. Vengeful spirits in Dōjōji, Aoinoue, Kurozuka, Momijigari, Sesshōseki, and Tsuchigumo hold a cloth-wrapped stick with crossbar at the top that is seen as a potent magic weapon of evil. Shinto characters, including deities like the Thunder God (Kamo) and shrine priestesses dancing kagura (Makiginu, Tatsuta) and shrine priests who purify an area hold sticks with folded paper streamers (hei).
Weapons
Weapons are at the same time symbolic (indicating the profession of a character) and performative, as they can be manipulated in key scenes. Members of the warrior class wear a sword, Daimyo may not actually use their swords, but in “demon vanquishing” nō, like Ōeyama, Tsuchigumo, Momijigari, and Sesshōseki, waki performing warriors draw their swords and destroy the demon. Similarly in “revenge” nō, like Mochizuki and Hōkazō, the final scene enacts a killing, though highly stylized and non-combative. Fight scenes with clashing of sword against sword or sword against halberd occur in, for instance, Eboshi ori, Kumasaka, Sekihara Yoichi, and Funa Benkei.
Warrior ghosts in second-category warrior plays (shuramono) also wear swords, which they wield during the final scene where they recount either their last battle (a single character demonstrating both himself and his adversary) or what it is like in warrior’s hell (shuradō). In the warrior play Tomoe, the only one featuring a woman warrior, she carries a long-handled halberd as well as a sword. She (chorus) relates the battle where she lured the enemy away from her fatally wounded lord and lover, Kiso no Yoshinaka, and then wielding her halberd cut down the enemy so they fell like “flowers in the wind.”
Tomoe. Photo: Udaka Norishige. Photo: F. M. Fioravanti
Bows and arrows feature in quite a number of plays in various ways. In Kagetsu, the young acolyte demonstrates shooting at birds. In Yumiyawata an old man dedicates a bagged bow to Sumiyoshi Shrine as a symbol of peace. In Kinsatsu the Deity Amatsu Futodama dances with a “demon-quelling moon bow and arrow.” In Tadanori, the arrow the shite carries has a poem attached, which serves to identify him to his adversary. In Youchi Soga, the Soga brothers ostensibly out on a hunting expedition carry bows and arrows, but secretly they are in search of an opportunity to avenge themselves on their father’s murderer.
Garments as properties
In addition to clothing the characters, garments function as stage properties in some nō. In Hagoromo, the feather robe lends its name to the play. It is laid on a tree prop, on the first pine along the bridge, or on the railing of the bridge before the performance begins. A Moon Maiden has taken it off to enjoy the spring beach. A fisherman picks the robe up. The Moon Maiden eventually persuades him to hand it back to her. After she puts it on, the rest of the play brings the robe to life in a series of dances.
In Aoinoue, a kosode (kimono) is laid downstage center (shōsaki) to represent the ailing Aoinoue. In the first half of the play, the spirit of Lady Rokujō eyes it (her), moves closer, strikes at it, and tries to run off with it. In the second half of the Kongō school Mumyō no inori (“Lightless Prayer”) variant, Rokujō’s jealous spirit grabs the garment and begins to drag it away before being overpowered by the ardent prayers of an exorcist.
A sequence from Hagoromo. Shite: Kongō Tatsunori. Waki: Oka Mitsuru. Photo: F. M. Fioravanti.
While the kosode in Hagoromo and Aoinoue function as what Yokomichi would term “necessary props”, the garments used in Jinen Koji, Tanikō and Miwa belong among the “props used for a single scene.” In Jinen Koji, a girl presents a kosode as payment for having prayers said for her deceased mother. In Tanikō after a boy is thrown down a cliff, he is covered with a cloth to represent his death. It is removed when he is miraculously revived. In Miwa a priest presents a poor woman with a garment, only to later find that it is hung up at the entrance to Miwa Shrine with a poem about selfless giving attached to it. Sometimes a costume element will be used for several purposes. In Sotoba Komachi, the hundred-year-old Komachi turns her large lacquered rain hat upside down to beg for alms. These examples add a touch of realism to the performance by referencing ways garments were used in every-day life during the middle ages.
Like other props, garments can accrue multiple imagery, hats are a case in point. In Sotoba Komachi, the broad lacquered hat Komachi wears as a wandering figure becomes a begging bowl, and then when she is possessed by the spirit of her dead lover, it shape-shifts into his hat. In Utō a broad conical lacquered hat first helps identify a dead hunter. It is then set up as a stupa. Later during his recounting of how he hunted baby birds it represents a bird’s nest. Finally it is used as a hat to protect the hunter in hell from raining tears of blood.
Special properties
A very special type of property is the paper strips symbolizing the spider web the monstrous spider throws in the play Tsuchigumo. Five rolls of washi (Japanese mulberry paper) cut in thin stripes, with a small leaden weight attached to each extremities are bound together in a packet, secured with a piece of wood and a larger paper stripe. The shite hides each projectile inside the costume sleeves, breaks the paper binding with the thumb and projects the long paper streamers against the shite-tsure (the warrior Raikō). Once thrown in the air each projectile breaks into a myriad of strips which envelope the actors, creating a spectacular effect (this technique was perfected by Meiji period Noh actor Kongō Kinnosuke). In the second half of the play, a group of warriors (waki actors), led by the hero Hitorimusha, reach the cave where the monstrous spider hides. This is represented by a tsukurimono first covered with a drape to suggest a cave, and then lowered to reveal the skeletal spider’s den covered with paper-made spiderwebs. Afterwards the shite breaks the web with its mallet, and exits the tsukurimono, engaging in a fight with the waki and waki-tsure. During the fight many spider webs are thrown by the shite as well as by the stage assistant sitting behind the empty tsukurimono.
Kongō school actors Udaka Norishige and Yamada Isumi perform the shimai excerpt from Tsuchigumo.
The large stage properties used in noh are called tsukurimono 作物, a term composed of the characters “to make” and “object”. These properties are used to represent mountains, buildings, boats, carriages, or other kinds of objects. Tsukurimono have two essential characteristics:
As with other aspects of noh theatre’s expressive language, tsukurimono are not realistic representations, but suggestions of a structure or piece of nature (tree, mound, etc). Many of these objects are simple bamboo frames covered with white or colored cloth. Since tsukurimono represent objects central to the narrative, plays can often be identified by the particular tsukurimono used in them, such as the thread-winder in Adachigahara (also known as Kurozuka), or the torii gate and brushwood fence in Nonomiya.
Tsukurimono are assembled before a performance and disassembled afterwards. Noh performances are one-time events. In most cases, the tsukurimono are prepared a few days before the performance so that they can be used in the mōshiawase rehearsal and then in the performance. After the performance, they are taken apart and stored in the backstage area of the noh theatre. They are handled by shite actors.
As with many other aspects of noh, the reasons for tsukurimono’s form and use on stage are both aesthetic and practical. At its inception, noh was been performed on small, temporary stages, often derived from buildings that had other purposes. Stage properties that could be transported, quickly mounted and dismounted were a necessary requirement of the itinerant troupes that performed noh. During the Edo period, when actors settled down at the service of feudal lords, the aesthetics of noh were canonized along with its repertory. Noh was performed on small, dedicated stages, often built within aristocratic residences. Unlike kabuki, which employed grandiose set-ups seeking for the appreciation of larger crowds, noh responded to the more somber aesthetics of the warrior class, hence it maintained a simpler performance language which is also expressed with the minimalism of its stage properties.
Nō scholar Yokomichi Mario categorized noh properties into three types, according to their use: [1]
Necessary properties
Properties that add interest
Properties used for only one scene
Necessary properties are on stage the entire performance, set the scene, and become the focus of activity. Properties that add and interest enliven the scene but are not indispensable for the performance, such as the pine tree used in Hagoromo.Properties used for only one scene are brought out for the scene, focus the action, and are taken off the stage after they are no longer needed. They include the work tools, like the miniature buckets used to haul sea brine in Matsukaze, and vehicles, like the ox-cart in Yuya or in the special version of Nonomiya discussed below.
[1] Yokomichi Mario. Nōkyōgen IV: Nō no kōzō to engi (Nō/Kyōgen 4: Nō Structure and Performance), (Iwanami Shoten, 1987, pp. 100-127).
Necessary properties and properties that add interest
These properties can be of various kinds. Larger properties are generally placed at a specific spot on the stage before the performance proper begins and removed after the performers leave the stage at the end. They serve as scenery, taking up space and defining its use, and also as symbolic representations of objects central to the text. Mounds, graves and huts are often placed in front of the hand drums at upstage center. Smaller low properties, generally set at downstage center, draw the focus of the action to the front. Textual and kinetic imagery often accumulate around the tsukurimono. These associations come together when the shite has physical contact with the property.
Example: Nonomiya
The photograph on the right displays the tsukurimono used in Nonomiya (‘The Shrine in the Fields’). This exemplifies how tsukurimono evoke the shape of an object using a sophisticated mixture of realistic and non-realistic elements. Nonomiya is a small shrine in the Saga area of Kyoto where Rokujō Miyasudokoro temporarily retired after her affair with Hikaru Genji ended. The torii gate in Nonomiya resembles a real torii on a smaller scale and is made with bamboo instead of sturdy wood. The brushwood fence flanking it on each side represents the fence referred to in the text as a rustic demarkation of the shrine precincts. The brushwood is collected from nature, but the fence is truncated. The smaller size of the prop allows the shite to maintain physical prominence on stage.
This stage property acts as a synecdoche, a poetic device by which a part of an object is used to evoke the whole. Here the torii and fence represent the shrine. In the first act, the waki recognizes it on a trip through Saga and stops to look. The shite’s first line describes the shrine as once filled with flowers, but desolate in autumn, a reflection of her lingering love for Genji who visited her there, remaining just outside. In the second ba (act) she recalls his visit as she brushes dewdrops (tears) from the fence and looks out at the night sky, as seen here in a Kongō school variant: Rokujō holds the torii pillar with her left arm while gazing into the distance beyond the shrine. Later, slipping one foot through the shrine and then pulling it back dramatizes her ambivalent state: between inside and outside, past and present, attachment and enlightenment.
Nonomiya. Shite: Udaka Michishige. Photo: F. M. Fioravanti
Example: Izutsu
In the noh Izutsu (‘The Well’) a wooden frame indicating a well is placed at center downstage. The tsukurimono here is at the center of the narrative. Action and text incrementally draw attention to it. First the waki takes note of the well as a marker of the place, the Ariwara Temple, once the home of the great poet Ariwara no Narihira. Then the shite, appearing as a local woman, pays tribute to it. Next, during the kuse scene, the chorus narrates a story about the well. When a child, Ki no Aritsune’s daughter played with her future husband, Narihira, around the well that stood between their houses. They would compare their heights against the well and also peer into its waters together, side by side, sleeve on sleeve. A few years later he proposed to her composing a poem about the well. The well poem becomes a mantra recapitulated in the final scene of the play.
As with Nonomiya, in the final scene verbal reference shifts to actual physical contact with the property. The ghost of Ki no Aritsune’s daughter, dressed now in her husband’s raiment, peers into the well and sees both herself and her husband’s reflection, their identities fuse into an inseparable single image.
Izutsu. Shite: Izumi Yoshio. Photo: M. Bethe
Example: Kurozuka
Large frameworks set in front of the drummers function as huts, mounds, caves, and graves. An actor may be concealed inside the covered framework while the stage attendants carry the property on stage before the performance begins and emerge from it later, or he may enter the property at the end of the first part (nakairi). In that case, the costume change occurs inside the tsukurimono. Later the drape around the framework is lowered and the shite revealed. The property often morphs during the performance, which is expressed in words and actions. In the play Kurozuka (Adachigahara in the Kanze school), a covered hut is brought out on stage before the entrance of the yamabushi priest Yūkei, (waki) and his companions (waki-tsure and ai kyōgen).
The hut is a frame covered with cloth and may have a thatched roof, as described in the text. While the waki describes his travels, it provides an undefined background of scenery, but when he laments having no place to stay and looks at it saying he has seen a fire, it becomes an abode where he might rest for the night.
Kurozuka. Shite: Udaka Tatsushige. Photo: F. M. Fioravanti
When priests arrive at the hut, the cloth is removed and an old woman is revealed inside, talking to herself of her weary life. The priests ask her for lodging, and she describes her home as being “far from the village, with wind racing through it and the moon tracing its shadows in it” but she finally lets them stay at their hut. At this point she rises, opens the door and steps out, symbolically letting the priests go in (actually waki and waki-tsure resettle themselves in the waki spot downstage left as the shite sits at center stage). The whole stage has now become the inside of the hut, the property an inner room. The old woman then demonstrates winding threads, in the famous itō-no-dan ‘thread scene’, described below in greater detail.
Later, as she leaves to gather firewood, the old woman tells the priests that they must not look into the inner chamber. During the interlude the priests’ servant (ai-kyōgen) cannot sleep because he worries about what might be in the inner room. Despite remonstrations from the priests to quiet down, he sneaks up to the property and peeps in, discovering a pile of human bones. He flees in fright after warning the priests.
The second act stages a battle between the priests and the old woman, now appearing as in her true form of a demon. The scene returns to the misty expanse of the Adachigahara moors, the property reverting into being the outside of a hut. The ogress, at one point, hangs onto the property and uses it as a vantage point.
In this way, the tsukurimono has been a spark of hope for a night’s lodging, a hut, both outside and inside, an inner room, and finally a jealously protected structure. It has been a scenic background, an entry channel (for the shite), the focus of attention (during the interlude scene), and with its sparse lattices, a constant reminder of the lonely desolation of the moor.
Properties used for single scenes to identify activities
Some properties are only placed on stage for a specific scene and then removed when no longer needed. These are temporary properties that enhance the scene with color, providing memorable visual focus. Examples include large carriages and boats. In Yuya the courtesan steps into a covered oxcart when she makes her way through the streets of the capital. In the second half of Nonomiya, in the performance variant kuruma-dashi-no-den (photo), the ghost of Rokujō appears in a cart.
Boats are square frames with rounded extensions rising to the front and back. For some plays, extra items are added. in Tori oi-bune clackers and a drum are set on the boat to chase away birds For Tōsen (Chinese Ship) a sail is hoisted on the boat. Wherever the boat is placed on the stage indicates the presence of water. For instance, in Eguchi, Lady entertainers anchor their pleasure boat by the bank of Yodo River. The boat property on the hashigakari turns it into a river.
In Funa Benkei, the kyōgen actor runs onto stage carrying a boat with himself inside mimes skimming over waves. He places the boat in front of the chorus thus transforming the whole performance area including the bridge and stage into water. Then, with Benkei and others aboard, the kyōgen rows the boat out to sea. The ghost of Taira no Tomomori rises up out of the waves, kicking the froth about. Combined with movement and text, the placement of the property creates the scene in the imagination of the audience.
Nonomiya. Shite: Udaka Michishige. Photo: F. M. Fioravanti
In Kurozuka a thread winder is brought out and placed at center stage or down stage right near the viewing pillar (metsuke bashira). The priests notice her thread winder (a “wheel for winding skeins”) and ask about it. While the chorus sings the shidai, she slowly winds the thread off the skein holder onto a smaller bobbin frame (see making costumes section for a discussion of this process). During the sashi, kuse, and ito-no-dan (‘thread scene’) sections, the shite sits at the winder and resumes her winding at the end of the passage. After this highlight scene is finished, the thread winder is removed and the scene changes.
Kurozuka. Shite: Udaka Tatsushige. Photo: F. M. Fioravanti
Placement of the property on stage
The placement of the property on the stage determines some of its impact and use. Large properties in the upstage area serve as scenery, double as entrance or exit spots, and focus attention at least temporarily towards the back. Smaller properties placed in the downstage area draw attention forward. Vehicles are often placed either along the bridge, or at center right (wakishō). Because the properties take up stage space, they also affect the choreography by reducing the amount of space for dance movements. Perhaps the most dominating property is the large prayer wheel or revolving stand filled with sutras (rinzō) placed in center stage during the nō Rinzō. At the height of the performance, the actors circle around the property, each revolution signifying a prayer recitation. The chart below summarizes the typical placement and impact of several types of properties.
Scenery, exit/ entrance, covered at first, often for the shite to exit into it for a costume change and uncovered during the second act to allow the ghost out.
Downstage, often center (daishōmae), sometimes to downstage stage-right (sumi).
Generally on a stand. Ringing the bell or striking the drum forms a highlight moment in a central scene.
Dōjōji bell
Hung above upstage center (daishōmae)
Lowered and raised during the performance. Jumps into the bell as the exit for part one; bell raised for entrance to part two, with costume change inside the bell.
Many noh plays use the bare stage as is with no set or property. This allows the imagination of the audience to ‘fill in’, creating the setting for shifting scenes evoked in the text. In some plays, however, large and small props add an extra layer to the imagery of the text. The large properties, tsukurimono or ‘created objects’, are built of bamboo or wood frames that may be wrapped or covered in cloth and decorated with symbolic items, such as maple branches, as in the play Momijigari, or snow, as in the plays Hachinoki and Kazuraki. Tsukurimono are generally set on stage at the beginning of a performance or the beginning of the second ba (act) and removed after the actors have left at the end of the play. Small props (kodōgu), like the carts in the play Matsukaze or the spinning wheel in Kurozuka are set on the stage when needed, manipulated, and then removed after the scene is over. Hand-held props like fans, prayer beads, swords or halberds are discussed under costumes.
The standard nō repertory performed today was set in the Edo period (1603-1868) and includes around 250 plays, although the exact number differs by nō acting school (ryūgi). Almost all of these nō were created sometime between the 14th and early 16th centuries. While a few great playwrights are known, such as Kan’ami, Zeami, and Zenchiku, the majority of the plays in today’s repertory have uncertain or no attribution.
Play themes include miraculous encounters with deities; the recollection of moments of intense love, strife, mistreatment, or vengeance; loyalty; family tragedies; and demon vanquishing. The highly structured texts combine passages in poetry and prose. Since the texts are rendered entirely in recitation or song, the various types of metrics are c8losely tied to the styles of vocalization, and a seamless transition from stylized speech to modulated chant, from free verse to strictly metered song, is reflected in the overall composition of the plays.
Playwrights were performers: the plays they created emerged from their performance experience, and both text and performance traditions were passed down together through the generations of performers. With the publication of nō texts in the late 16th and early 17th centuries, and a growing number of amateur practitioners and patrons of nō, nō texts (yōkyoku) with their beautiful poetry and allusive imagery came to be read as literature. This section focuses on the literary aspects of nō.
Important performances, either one time or recurring festival events, were often recorded visually. For example, a pair of screens entitled “Viewing noh” (Kobe City Museum) memorialize Emperor Yōzei’s visit to view noh at Toyotomi Hideyoshi’s Juraku grounds. Typically , the emphasis emphasis focuses more on the audience than on faithful depiction of the performance. Conversely, hand scrolls and booklets on festival activities, such as the numerous depictions of the Onmatsuri at Kasuga Shrine and firelight noh at Kōfukuji detail the preparation activities and items as well as sketches of the proceedings.
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As literacy spread during the late 15th to early 17th centuries, illustrated books and scrolls written primarily in syllabary (kana) became popular. Among these Nara Picture Books (Nara e-hon) were tales based on nō stories, such as Sumidagawa zōshi, Matsukaze Murasame, and Miidera. In addition, illustrated nō chant books (e-iri utaibon 絵入り謡本) appeared in the late 16th century. During the Edo period printed books like the Yokyoku Gashi included woodcuts of nō scenes. The depictions in all these are often emotive story settings, only sometimes referencing a nō stage or performance context.
Actors and musicians wishing to pass on their art sometimes resorted to illustrations to clarify their meaning. The oldest example is Zeami’s notes to his son-in-law, Komparu Zenchiku where he supplements his discussion of the basic elements of noh movement with drawings in Figure Drawings of the Two Arts and the Three Modes 二曲三体人形図 (1421).
Figure Drawings of the Two Arts and the Three Modes 二曲三体人形図
Zeami illustrates the three basic modes of expression–old men, women, and warriors–with delicate ink sketches of undressed bodies and an epithet. For instance, the old man leans on his stick gazing upward through ideographs reading, “With tranquil intent, a distant gaze.” These are followed by sketches of costumed figures and a discussion. For the Old Man’s Dance, he comments that the tranquility is “like a blossom coming into flower on an old tree.” For the warrior mode he gives two applications: the demon with human heart and the demon with demonic intent. In this way, Zeami presents the inner essence and the outer expression of each mode complementing his words with blossom-filed sketches that evoke rather than delineate style. The “Two Arts” in the title refer to the opening and closing sketches of special dances, the child’s dance and the heavenly maiden’s dance respectively.
In the 16th century a printed book titled Hachijō Kadensho (Eight Volume Flower Transmission) referencing parts of Zeami’s Fūshi Kaden (Transmitting the Flower through Effects and Attitudes) including its title contains drawings of stage movement (Vol. 5, pp 12-15) and a discussion of proper stances and seated positions (Vol. 5, pp 18-25). The latter are illustrated with undressed figures. Only the hair distinguishes gender and types. Practical points on posture interpret the realistic line drawings, which contrast sharply with Zeami’s fluid, graceful imagery.
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The stage arts of nō and kyōgen, together called nōgaku, developed during the 14th century and matured in the early 15th century, thanks to the efforts of playwright/performers Kan’ami Kiyotsugu (1333-84) and his son Zeami Motokiyo (1363-1443). Sarugaku, as nō was known during their time, continued to evolve during the 15th and 16th centuries through the work of new playwrights and the theatrical contributions they made. During the Edo period (1603-1868), when nō became the official ceremonial performing art of the shogunal government, the existing repertory and performance conventions were codified. Of some thousand plays created over the centuries since Kan’ami and Zeami’s time, around two hundred and fifty became part of the standard repertory established by the middle of the Edo Period. Only a handful were added in succeeding years. New plays and discarded plays were categorized as “out of the repertory” (bangai). On the other hand, from the mid-Edo Period, some master actors focused on creating variant performances (kogaki) of the already existing repertory. In 1868, with the the Meiji Restoration and the end of the shogunate, nō lost its former samurai elite patronage. New financial backing was sought from a broader public and through the education of amateurs, and new patterns of performance and patronage were set for the century ahead.
In his treatise called Fūshi-kaden, Zeami traces the origins of nō back to the 7th century when, he explains, Hada no Kōkatsu was commissioned to create sixty-six entertainments called sarugaku. Zeami then explains that the sixty-six pieces were simplified to three, known as Shikisanban – the dances of Okina, Chichi-no-jō, and Sanbasō – and that performances of these pieces brings peace to the land. [1]
The earliest concrete evidence of Shikisanban performances is found in an extant Okina mask dating from the 12th century. Surviving early Okina-related masks (Okina, Sanbasō, Chichi-no-jō, and Enmei-kaja) are preserved today to a large extent in temples and shrines around the old capitals of Kyoto and Nara extending to the north and east to include present-day Fukui, Shiga, and Gifu Prefectures. The performers of Shikisanban were not restricted to sarugaku players but also included dengaku (“field music”) players and shūshi ritual-performing priests. Still, the concentration of old masks in the greater capital area suggests the geographic center that gave birth to nō.
Scholars suggest that the term sarugaku evolved from sangaku, circus-like acrobatics, juggling, and instrumental music imported from the Asian mainland in the 7th to 8th centuries, and again in the early 13th century. Early 14th-century depictions of the sarugaku players show them performing Shikisanban, while their rival dengaku players are shown clacking the binzasara (a type of rattle made of a long string of wooden bars) or throwing knives and performing antics. [2] During the 14th century, sarugaku and dengaku borrowed from each other and both developed a form of musical danced drama, known respectively as “sarugaku nō” and “dengaku nō”. This type of entertainment mostly comprised improvised skits.
Scholars trace the development of early nō to a combination of various performing arts prevalent during the 13th and 14th centuries, which included the following:
Masked ritual performances.Shikisanban ritual dances, tsuina rites where demons are chased away and the area purified, gyōdō processions of Buddhist deities, and ennen temple banquet entertainments.
Narrative performances. Spoken dramas, like shin-sarugaku comic skits, sung narratives such as the Heike monogatari performed by blind biwa hōshi (lute-playing storytellers), and songs elaborated in movement, including the arts of female entertainers like imayō and kusemai. Ennen temple banquet entertainments eventually developed texts that drew on both Chinese and Japanese sources and incorporated quotes from Buddhist sutras and classical poetry.
Dance-based performances.Bugaku dances performed at imperial court functions and in temples and shrines, various kagura (ritual shintō dances), dengaku group dances to the accompaniment of flute, drums, and binzasara performed at planting and harvest times, shūshi priests purifying the grounds, and ennen temple banquet entertainments.
Sarugaku (left) and Dengaku (right) performers in the Shokunin-zukushi uta-awase (Nana-jū ichiban shokunin uta-awase). This Tokyo National Museum scroll is a copy of a Muromachi-period scroll copied by Kanō Seisei (1795-1846) and Kanō Shōsei (1822-1880).
Shirabyōshi (top) and Kusemai (bottom) performers in the Shokunin-zukushi uta-awase (Nana-jū ichiban shokunin uta-awase). Edo-period copy, Tokyo National Museum.
2. Early nōgaku
The mid-14th century saw violent political instability. In 1333, Emperor Go-daigo succeeded in destroying the Kamakura Shogunate in an effort to reassert imperial centrality. Then in 1336, his general Ashikaga Takauji deserted him to set up a new Ashikaga Shogunate in Kyoto and establish an alternative “northern” emperor as his figurehead. The power struggles during this time of rival northern and southern emperors (Nanbokuchō 1336-1392) nurtured social upheavals. Troupes, or guilds (za), of performing artists entered the protection of religious institutions. For instance, the Yamato troupes, the forerunners of the modern day Kanze, Hōshō, Kongō and Konparu stylistic schools were connected to the Kasuga Shrine- Kōfukuji temple complex in Nara. The same social upheavals also stimulated cross influences between performers of differing genres leading to innovation and evolution in the performing arts.
In the Sarugaku dangi (Conversations on sarugaku), Zeami records the names of eminent nō performers in the 14th century, describing them as the “fathers of our art”. These include his father Kan’ami, the dengaku player Itchū and Itchū’s disciple among the Ōmi sarugaku players Inuō (Buddhist name Dōami), and Kiami, “the father of chant”. Kan’ami’s Yūzaki troupe was connected to Kasuga Shrine in Nara; Inuō and Kiami from the Hie troupe were associated with Hiyoshi Shrine in Ōmi (modern-day Shiga Prefecture).
Zeami discusses their styles and critiques performances he saw. From his comments, one can draw up a list of early plays. Generally, early nō plays were characterized by a linear storyline in the present time. There were few characters, and the roles of waki, shite, and tsure were only loosely defined. In the play Kayoi Komachi, for instance, the character Komachi (tsure) dominates the first half of the performance and remains central throughout, while her lover, Shi no Shōshō (shite), enters only half way through the performance. In plays attributed to Kan’ami – like Jinen Koji, Hyakuman, Sotoba Komachi – action (monomane) dominates over dance (mai). Instrumental dances are inserted only where the plot requires them. Language mixes prose and poetry.
One of Kan’ami’s greatest contributions to nō was his adoption of the kusemai, a type of dance-song he learned from a female performer. The strong, accented rhythms added variety to the even beat of the kouta style of singing which was standard at the time. Some kusemai were incorporated wholesale into nō (e.g., in the plays Hakuman and Yamanba) as central scenes consisting of a series of segments (shidai, kuri, sashi, and kuse). For the kuse section of nō, however, the full form of a kusemai was often abbreviated leaving out one or more of the passages preceding the kuse itself.
3. Early Muromachi nōgaku: the time of the great masters
By the last quarter of the 14th century, the Ashikaga shoguns had established relative peace. Under the strong personality of the third shogun, Yoshimitsu（1358-1408, r. 1368-1394), cultural pursuits flourished and the era of two emperors was concluded (1392). Yoshimitsu was a strong patron of the arts, nurturing and rewarding sophisticated accomplishment. He passed the role of patron down to his successors and patronage by the powerful came to spell the success or demise of performers and their troupes.
In 1375, Zeami performed with his father in Kyoto in front of Yoshimitsu. As a result of Yoshimitsu’s admiration, Zeami was thereafter nurtured among the cultural elite, gaining the notice of the renowned poet Nijō Yoshimoto (1320-1388). As a consequence of this exceptional education and of Zeami’s remarkable talents, the plays Zeami composed are often based on classical literature and his use of language is carefully modulated. He is thought to be the originator of the “dream” nō’ (mugen nō), and his increasing emphasis on dance may have been spurred by competition with the excellent Ōmi sarugaku performer, Dōami.
Zeami trained his successors carefully. To ensure a future for his art, he wrote down what he had learned from his father, as well as ideas about performance that he had developed out of his own experience. His writings were composed for specific people to be passed down as secrets.
During the 14th and 15th centuries, many of the nō mask types were created. After the Okina masks, the oldest masks represented supernatural beings, gods, and demons. By Zeami’s time, however, a wide variety of human and “ghost” masks were developed in tandem with the increasing sophistication of nō performance, such as the development of mugen nō plays. Masks of young women made it possible for a mature actor to perform roles that were previously taken by youths. As the full range of roles broadened to include non-living male characters (such as ghosts of warriors, hunters, lovers) as well as sprites, and plant spirits, the demand for new masks broadened. The close relations between actors and mask carvers can be seen in Zeami’s discussion in Sarugaku dangi of the ten famous carvers of his day.
Zeami’s son Motomasa (1394?-1432?) became the head of the Kanze troupe in 1429. He composed several plays with strong human interest and poetic sensitivity, but died mysteriously in 1432, preceding his father. This was only the beginning of setbacks under the fifth Ashikaga shogun, Yoshinori (1394-1441, r. 1429-1441), who favored the dynamic performances of Zeami’s nephew Motoshige, later known as On’ami (1398-1467). In 1433 Yoshinori underwrote and attended a gala benefit performance, the Tadasu Kawara Kanjin Sarugaku, featuring Motoshige. Then, In 1434, for unverified reasons, Zeami was exiled to the island of Sado. The assassination of Yoshinori during a performance by On’ami in 1441 led to a general amnesty and to Zeami’s return to Kyoto. It also led to a weakened government, as Yoshinori’s successors were small children. Growing power in the hands of local daimyo encouraged power struggles culminating in the Ōnin War (1467-77), during which much of Kyoto burned down. Actors along with artisans and numerous others fled the city.
Zeami’s son-in-law Komparu Zenchiku (1405-1470) lived in Nara with ties to the Kasuga-Kōfukuji complex. Somewhat removed from the growing unrest in Kyoto, Zenchiku composed nō and wrote several highly philosophic works. A number of Zeami’s treatises are addressed to Zenchiku, and scholars see Zenchiku as inheriting Zeami’s style and aesthetics, though coloring them with a strongly philosophic interest and religious understanding fostered by close relations with influential priests like Shōtetsu and Ikkyū.
Venues for performance during the early Muromachi period were often religious sites, like the Kasuga-Kōfukuji shrine-temple complex in Nara, to which the Yamato sarugaku performers remained attached for centuries. Other venues included residences of the shogun and of other feudal lords, and open-air benefit performances (kanjin nō) on temporary stages for a paying public. The Tadasu kawara kanjin sarugaku zu, (Sketch of the Benefit Performance by the Riverside at Tadasu Woods; Kanze school archives) is a diagram depicting the stage and seating of a benefit performance held in 1464. Under the drawing of the stage, it lists the plays performed and identifies the dignitaries, including the shogun Yoshimasa (r. 1449-1473), in the front seats.
4. Late Muromachi nōgaku: theatricality for a broad public
The Ōnin War ushered in a century of civil war, with outlying daimyo gathering increasing power while Kyoto remained the coveted cultural center. The city was salvaged by its citizens. Merchants and artisans rose in wealth and importance, adding a new audience for the performing arts still favored by the military class. Nō plays written during this time of “warring states” catered to demands for easy enjoyment and theatricality. A majority of the plays written by Kanze Kojirō Nobumitsu (1435-1516), his son Nagatoshi (1488-1531), Komparu Zenpō (1474-1520), and Miyamasu (dates unknown) are typically described today as furyū nō. Furyū nō plays are characterized by being plot-driven, with large casts of characters, extensive dialogue, striking dramatic devices, and taking place in the narrative present (genzai nō). These plays enlivened the traditional repertory, which continued to be performed along with new pieces composed in the style of the great masters.
During this time, the Kanze troupe lost its monopoly on performing for the shogun, and the other Yamato sarugaku troupes (Hōshō, Kongō, Konparu) rose in importance participating in palace performances in 1493, 1497, and later. While Ōmi sarugaku and dengaku lost ground, amateur nō groups (tesarugaku) and regional troupes appeared. While some genres prevalent in the fourteenth century, like the kusemai, imayō, and shirabyōshi died out, narrative dramas like kōwakamai and jōruri gained popularity.
5. The Momoyama Period and the renewal of nōgaku
Over the second half of the 16th century, the country re-unified under a succession of three military leaders: Oda Nobunaga (1534-1582), Toyotomi Hideyoshi (1537-1598), and Tokugawa Ieyasu (1543-1616). All three were patrons of nō. In particular, Hideyoshi’s cultural ambitions led him to study nō performance under a Komparu troupe actor. He himself performed in front of Emperor Go-yōzei.
“Nō Viewing”. Folding screen. Property of Kobe City Museum. Via Google Arts & Culture.
He even ordered new compositions of nō plays about himself. By subsidizing the yearly events at Kasuga Shrine and Kōfukuji in Nara that included nō performances, Hideyoshi bolstered the importance of the four Yamato troupes serving Kasuga-Kōfukuji, and thereby set the precedent for their enduring importance. Performers from tesarugaku and other regional troupes either joined one of the four Yamato troupes or fell by the wayside.
With the greater freedoms and fluid class structure of the Momoyama period, literary and cultural pursuits flourished. Pictorial and documentary evidence attest to frequent performances not only in the palace, but also for the general public along the seasonally-dry riverbank in Kyoto. Audiences came from every social level. Feeding into the popularity of the performing arts was a growing book production related to nō. Nō stories formed the basis for picture books (Nara ehon). The publication of utaibon (nō chant books) not only served the growing amateur practitioners (like Hideyoshi) but also spurred a purely literary appreciation of the nō texts. Several actors as well as proficient amateurs like Shimotsuma Sōshin (d. 1616), wrote down detailed descriptions of performance practice and staging. Some books, like the Hachijō Kadenshō, which quotes a portion of Zeami’s Fūshi kaden, and the Koetsu edition utaibon were published in moveable type and generally available.
The oldest permanent nō stages (at Nishi Honganji in Kyoto and Itsukushima Shrine in Hiroshima Prefecture) also date from this period. The architecture of these roofed outdoor structures was repeated in slight variation for stages built in castles and on religious grounds. The use of masks and costumes also began to be codified in this period. To a large extent, the types of nō costumes, as we known them today, retain the weaves and general styles of the Momoyama Period. Masks, which had grown in sophistication and differentiation in tandem with the development of nō in the 14th and 15th centuries, were now carved by specialists who turned to modeling their work on the best old masks. This in turn contributed to the standardization of masks. Soon mask production became an inherited family occupation.
6. Nōgaku under the Tokugawa shoguns
The first Tokugawa shogun, Ieyasu (1542-1616, r. 1603-1605), held nō performances in his Edo castle, and already in 1608, all four troupes performed there. Nō became the official ceremonial performance art for celebrating the peace and prosperity of the nation. The actors became public servants, on par with samurai, and received stipends, but they were also under strict regulations. Mistakes in performance were punished. The troupes had to submit lists of their repertory, holdings, and practices. Collections like the Record of Actors of the Four Schools(Yoza yakusha mokuroku, 1646 and 1653) record possessions, anecdotes, and observations. Successive shoguns were nō aficionados. Quite a number of daimyo also took up studying nō. They supported their teachers and held performances in their provincial castles, building stages and assembling collections of masks, costumes, and props.
Knowledge of nō became integral to elite education. Books illustrating nō stories, like the Utai no ehon (Picture Book of Nō Chant) were published. Imagery taken from nō plays appeared on clothing decoration, lacquer and ceramic designs. Dolls representing nō figures became elite household items. By the end of the Edo Period, short sections from nō songs were even used to teach reading in local temple schools.
The codification of nō performance that grew out of its ceremonial function made it increasingly slow. The canon of nō plays hardly changed after the early Edo Period, despite the creation of numerous new plays. Performance practice became set and emphasis shifted from what was done to how it was performed, with attention devoted increasingly to the elaboration of details. Performance time lengthened accordingly. Still, some actors, notably Kanze Motoakira (1722-1774), devised new, interpretive performance practices that eventually became accepted as variants (kogaki). From the mid-Edo period, the invention of variants sparked creativity. Motoakira’s attempt at breathing new life into nō by reviving old plays and writing his own (published in 1765), however, met with disapproval from other actors.
As a ceremonial art of the ruling class, nō performances for commoners were restricted either to “citizens’ nō” (machiiri nō), when the shogun invited city dwellers to view a performance, or to benefit performances (kanjin nō). The latter could only be held under government license, typically once in the lifetime of the head of a school. A temporary outdoor stage was erected, admission was charged, and full-day programs were elaborately staged. In addition, religious centers continued to stage nō. The Kasuga-Kōfukuji festivals still called on the Yamato sarugaku troupes to perform at the yearly events, although not all troupes participated every year. In some rural areas, like Kurokawa in Yamagata, the villagers themselves staged nō as part of their yearly events.
“Commoners Viewing Nō” (Machi-iri o-nō haiken no zu). Multi-color woodblock triptych. Printed in 1889.
7. Nōgaku from the Meiji Period until today
The year 1868 marks the end of the shogunate governments and the return of the political system with the emperor as sole head of state. Society was in flux, and people who had received stipends from the shogunate had to search out new means of livelihood. This included nō performers. Quite a number turned to alternative professions. From early on, however, the Meiji emperor, whose own parents had been fond of nō, enjoyed nō performances. A year after the restoration, in 1869, the visit of the Duke of Edinburgh was honored with a nō performance. Other high-level performances took place with the imperial presence, and in 1878 the Empress Dowager Eishō added a nō stage to her Aoyama palace. Two years earlier, in 1876, the emperor also enjoyed nō at the home of his minister, Iwakura Tomomi, recently returned from Europe. Having noted the cultural role of opera in Europe, Iwakura hoped that nō could fulfill an important cultural role in the new Meiji world.
A turning point for the revival of nō came in 1879 when former U.S. President Grant visited Japan, and on experiencing a nō performance, recommended the importance of preserving such a “solemn” art. By 1881 a newly formed Nō Society (nōgakusha) had built a public nō stage in Shiba Park in Tokyo. Eventually, the five nō schools built their own stages, and enough practitioners came back to the profession or were trained anew to effect a healthy revival. The top nō actor during this period was Umewaka Minoru (1828-1909) of the Kanze school. He convinced Hōshō school actor Hōshō Kurō (1837-1917), who had turned to farming to earn a living during the period of upheaval, to return to nō practice. Financial support shifted from stipends and high-level patronage in the Edo Period to the box office and teaching amateurs. Dissemination of nō culture also resumed. Costume and mask production became viable again, and numerous prints depicting nō plays, such as those by Tsukioka Kōgyo (1869-1927), fostered familiarity with nō among the general public. Nō utaibon were revised and printed and made available to students of nō and others.
The discovery in 1908 and the subsequent publication of Zeami’s treatises, which had previously been secret property handed down only to the heads of the Kanze and Komparu schools, gave rise to a reappraisal of performance aims. In addition, it spurred the academic study of nō. Carefully annotated publications of nō texts accompanied by essays on costumes, masks, and performance practice, as well as translations of nō into Western languages, created the foundation of nō studies today.
Nō flourished from the late Meiji (1890s) into the early Shōwa Period (1930s), due to increased numbers of amateur practitioners and regular theatre-goers. Like other major art forms, nō was used for purposes of militaristic propaganda, and was performed in the newly colonized territories of Taiwan, Manchuria, and the Korean peninsula. With the beginning of the Second World War, however, nō activities mostly came to a halt in Japan and elsewhere as actors were drafted into the army, and bombing destroyed nō theatres.
Training and performances slowly resumed after the war, when shite stylistic schools collaborated in order to accommodate the shortage of stages and a smaller nō audience population. In 1954, a mixed Kanze-Kita group of actors travelled to Venice to perform in what became the first full nō performance by professionals in the Western world (at the Venice International Theatre Festival). Under the gaze of an increasingly international audience, efforts were made to separate nō from the association with nationalism and militarism. Unlike kabuki, a more popular theatre, and thus under more scrutiny, nō was not so heavily affected by American censorship during the occupation years (1945-1952).
In 1950, shite actor Kanze Hisao joined forces with scholars, critics and contemporary theatre practitioners to found the Nō Renaissance Group (Nōgaku runessansu no kai), seeking to provide a new reading of the theories of Zeami. The construction of a new identity for nōgaku was centered on this new reading, which emphasized the responsibility of the actor to the needs of contemporary audiences. The urge to re-establish a relationship with the general public was determined, at least in its initial phase, by economic needs: after the tragic ending of the Second World War, government and private efforts were dedicated to reconstruction and reinvestment. Little money was left for art-related activities. It was not until 1968 that the Japanese Agency for Cultural Affairs was established, and an official policy for the preservation and innovation of the arts that involved government endorsement and financial support was issued. Nō performances started to be regularly broadcast on television in cultural programs. Performances that had venerable traditions such as takigi-nō (firelight nō) became particularly popular. The 1970s saw the peak of the ‘democratization’ of traditional arts, and the decade was significantly inaugurated with the establishment, in 1972, of the Japan Foundation, in charge of promoting Japanese culture within the country and abroad. As the country began its economic ascent, the “culture of leisure” started to spread within the middle-class population, and many people undertook training in the traditional arts, such as nō or tea ceremony. While such study was rewarded with certificates to mark each new level of attainment, the activity was undertaken largely as status symbol.
However, with the burst of the economic bubble in the late 1980s, the amateur population started to shrink. As a consequence, the economic conditions for the nō establishment have become unstable, posing a serious threat to the future of new generations of professionals. Today, nō may not be the sign of cultural status that it was in the past. Younger people accustomed to fast-paced animation, tv-series and internet comics do not identify with an art form they see as belonging to a previous generation. In order to combat this trend, the Nōgaku Performers’ Association (Nōgaku kyōkai) has started a demonstration program in primary and secondary schools aimed at creating new audiences and strengthening interest in nō. Performers also use YouTube and Facebook pages to advertise their performances.
Notes
1. Tom Hare, tr. Zeami: Performance Notes, Columbia University Press, 2008. 48-52.
2. For early depictions of sarugaku, see Tsurugaoka hōjōe shokunin uta awase 鶴岡放生会職人歌合. For dengaku, see Urajima Myōjin engi 浦島明神縁起.
The contemporary noh stage has a distinctive architecture. Reflecting its origins as an outdoor structure, the performance areas are covered by a roof. A platform for the chorus (jiutai za) extends to stage left, and another extension to the rear (atoza) allows space for the instrumentalists and stage assistants to be seated and joins a bridgeway (hashigakari) off to stage right that leads backstage via the mirror room (kagami no ma). The audience sits around the stage to the right and front.
In the past, stages like this were erected outdoors on shrine or temple precincts and within castle structures. Quite a few of these remain, some still being used for annual performances. Modern noh stages retain this architecture but place it within a larger theater hall. In some cases, a building was constructed around a preexisting outdoor stage. The aerial view below has labels on the parts of the stage.
Kagami no ma (mirror room). The dressing room leading onto the stage.
Agemaku (curtain) A five-color curtain lifted with sticks from the side for major exits and entrances, pulled slightly open at the side for some entrances.
Hashigakari(bridge) Passageway between the mirror room and the stage proper used for entrances and exits, and also as a side acting space.
Atoza (rear-stage area) The instrumentalists and stage attendants sit here.
Honbutai (stage proper) Square area where most of the action takes place.
Jiutaiza (chorus seat) Six or eight chorus members sit in this extension at stage left.
Kagami ita (painted pine) The constant backdrop, allegedly representing the yōgō no matsu on the precincts of Kasuga Shrine, Nara.
Kirido (small side door) Inconspicuous entrances and exits are done through this back door.
Take (painted bamboo) Considered a part of the kagami ita.
Shite-bashira(shite pillar) The upstage right pillar supporting the roof. The shite stands here for the opening sections of the majority of noh.
Fue-bashira (flute pillar) The upstage left pillar. The flute player sits near this pillar.
Metsuke-bashira (eye-fixing pillar) The downstage right support pillar. Although an inconvenience for the audience, this pillar helps orient the masked performer whose vision is highly restricted.
Waki-bashira (waki pillar) The downstage left pillar. The waki sits near this pillar for much of the play.
Kizahashi (stairs) Non-functional today except as a center orientation marker for the masked shite. A remnant from when shrine buildings were used as stages, in the past the stairs were presumably used for entrances, and for members of the audience to present items to the actors.
Shirasu (sand) or pebbles separate the world of the stage from that of the audience. Alternatively, water (as at Itsukushima Shrine, Hiroshima) or moss (HIgashi Honganji, Kyoto) serves to separate the performance area from the audience.
San-no-matsu (third pine) The small potted pine in the shirasu area in front of the bridge closest to the curtain.
Ni-no-matsu (second pine) The middle small potted pine next to the bridge.
Ichi-no-matsu (first pine) The small potted pine in front of the bridge closest to the stage proper.
Sharp hits, gentle reverberations, eerie shouts, long, yet meaningful silences, piercing flute shrills – the music of nō does not reflect the mainstream aesthetics of Western popular music, which have now become dominant also in Japan. Yet the evocative power of the instruments can elicit a myriad of emotions and the cumulative effect can be entrancing. Each instrument has a distinct character. Their combinations and overlaps give depth to the performance. After introducing each of the instruments, we turn to their ensemble variations and to the ways they work together with the lyrics.
Nō uses four musical instruments: the nōkan or fue (flute) and three drums: large and small hand drums (ō-tsuzumi and ko-tsuzumi) and stick drum (taiko). Each instrument is played by a musician who specializes in it. The instruments (hayashi) accompany the chant, and also play entrance music as well as music for dances without chant. The videos below show how they are played.
Nōkan (nō flute) 能管
The nōkan is a bamboo transverse flute with seven holes. The bamboo body is reinforced by winding a string fashioned from the outer bark of the cherry tree around all of it except for the finger holes and mouthpiece. Although its exterior appearance seems to be almost identical with the transverse flute played in gagaku, known as the ryūteki, the nōkan differs from the ryūteki in having red lacquer painted around the mouthpiece and around each finger hole. It also has a metal fitting at the head end. A dragon or other image sculpted into the metal fitting often inspires the name of the flute.
The biggest difference with the ryūteki, however, is the insertion of a bamboo tube (nodo) between the mouthpiece and the first finger hole, constricting the passageway. The insertion of the nodo makes it impossible for the nōkan to play a western scale. It is not clear why or when the nodo came to be inserted in the flute, but its presence produces a sharp timbre and reduces the number of overtones. It plays a base note textured by one overtone which is not a true octave. In addition, no two nōkan are tuned exactly the same, resulting in dissonance if multiple nōkan play together.
The nōkan does not play the same melody or rhythm as the utai even when playing at the same time. Rather, it deepens the atmosphere of the scene at discrete intervals. At these times (ashirai) the nōkan rhythms are not matched to the drum beats, but even so, it does not improvise. For instance, to embellish the shōdan segment called ageuta, the flute plays three prescribed melodies at specific places: a takane, a naka-no-takane, and a kote. The number of lines to an ageuta may vary and are chanted in several styles – slowly, or vigorously – depending on the content. The flute complements the content changing its tempo and adding embellishments, all within the framework of the three patterns. There are quite a number of shōdan that incorporate short flute patterns, such as the kuse, and the entrance issei.
Ko-tsuzumi (small hand drum) 小鼓 and Ō-tsuzumi (large hand drum) 大鼓
The small and large hand drums (ko-tsuzumi and ō-tsuzumi) have an hourglass-shaped body and skin drum heads at either end that are lashed to the body with hemp ropes before each performance. The skins are from horse hide that has been dried and clamped to an iron frame. While the skins of the ō-tsuzumi must be dried over a brazier before each performance, those of the ko-tsuzumi need to be kept moist and pliable so they can produce several pitches depending on how tightly the player squeezes the lashing ropes. One often sees the ko-tsuzumi player blow moist air on the skins or wet them with his finger during performance.
The ō-tsuzumi and ko-tsuzumi function as a pair, playing together to construct the rhythmic patterns. Broadly speaking, the ō-tsuzumi takes charge of the odd number beats that form the rhythmic framework and the first half of the phrase, while the ko-tsuzumi governs the even number beats and the last half of the phrase. The ō-tsuzumi produces a sharp sound with little variation and creates the foundation of the rhythm, the ko-tsuzumi plays ornamentation between the ō-tsuzumi beats using variations in timbre and rhythm.
The hand drum players, particularly the ō-tsuzumi drummer, measure the beat interval (ma) with an internalized cue before beating. This preparatory measuring, whether to ‘take the ma’ quickly, or slowly and deeply, may be considered as even more important than the actual sound of the drumbeat. Again, most often the drummers’ calls precede the drum beat, and the type of call greatly influences the impact of the rhythmic pattern. The number of rhythm patterns are limited, but the same patterns, depending on the way the calls are voiced and the way the ma is taken, are adapted to express totally different nō plays — women’s kazura nō, formal deity waki nō, and warrior shura nō. By adjusting the rhythmic formulation and the drummer’s calls, the same rhythmic patterns are used when accompanying song and when playing with the flute for an instrumental dance section.
Taiko (stick drum) 太鼓
The taiko is played with two sticks, and thus different from the large and small tsuzumi, which are beat with the hand. While the two tsuzumi play primarily on the downbeats, the taiko strikes both on downbeats and upbeats. Alternating striking with the right hand on the down beats and the left on the up beats creates an impression of an even pace, and helps create a greater sense of a regular rhythm. In fact, the tempo accelerates and retards to intensify the mood or mark closures and transitions between sections (dan).
Capitalizing on these characteristics, the nō repertory only uses the taiko for some plays and then only for certain sections in them, specifically the taiko enters when evoking a non-human world. For instance, in Takasago, the taiko does not play in the first half of the nō when the shite and tsure perform the roles of an old couple who are deities in human form, but it does enter in the second half when the shite plays the deity of Sumiyoshi.
In nō were the second half enacts a prayer for the deceased, such as Tomonaga and Sanemori, the taiko plays only for the section of the religious service. The same goes for the inclusion of the taiko accompaniment for instrumental dances. The taiko does not play for the jo-no-mai dance in nō featuring aristocratic women, like Izutsu and Nonomiya, but it does play for the jo-no-mai danced by spirits of plants, such as in Kakitsubata (The Iris) and Saigyō-zakura (The Willow and Priest Saigyō), and for the Moon Maiden in Hagoromo.
Exceptions occur when there are intense human emotional elements. Although generally non-Japanese characters perform dances that include the taiko, the jo-no-mai played for the beautiful courtesan Yōkihi does not. Likewise, although Bashō features the spirit of a plantain, the jo-no-mai has no taiko accompaniment. The human theme of intense love in the former and the strong religious element in the latter preclude the use of the taiko. The inclusion or absence of the taiko provides a window into understanding how their authors viewed the plays.
Instrumental music for long dance sections
As discussed in Dance, the mai dances in nō include pure dance intended to highlight the dancing figure and the beauty of the movement, as well as explicitly evocative dances that imitate dances and music from China (gaku) or that are performed by Shrine maidens (kagura). In addition, there are shorter “action dances” (hataraki) that add a dramatic element.
The pure dances go by various names reflecting the type of role: slow dance (jo-no-mai), deity dance (kami-mai), man’s dance (otoko-mai). The jo-no-mai are performed by the spirits of beautiful women to a very slow tempo, while kami-mai performed by vigorous male gods and the otoko-mai performed by men have quick tempos. In essence, however, they all have the same basic flute melody matched to the beat, and the drums adjust their patterns to this. The basic flute melody consists of four lines set to the eight-beat unit. The lines are repeated in cycles. By adding embellishments and changing the style of playing, the model form is adapted to gentle refined dances and vigorous dynamic dances. One melody and drum score serves multiple expressions.
Although the notes are the same for both jo-no-mai and otoko-mai, their tempos and the way the notes match the beat differ. While jo-no-mai has long extended notes that bridge the pulse, otoko-mai rides the beat creating a sense of vigorous energy.
Learning the flute part and coordinating the ensemble for instrumental music relies on singing the tune. Before actually putting flute to mouth and blowing the tune, the flute player learns to intone a solfège (shōga), syllables used to represent the melody and rhythm, while fingering the holes on the instrument. This solfège also serves as a base for the drummers and dancer, who sing the tune in their minds while practicing their parts.
The construction of these pure dances consists of a number of sections (dan). A single dance generally has three, or five, such sections (see Dance). Each section of the dance has a set number of repetitions (adjusted to the shite school) of this basic melody. The end of each section is marked by a closure (“iya” drummer’s call) and the next section begins with a distinctive opening melody. A few lines of special melodies (oroshi), unique to each type of pure dance, are inserted between lines of the basic four-line repeat at an early moment in each of the middle sections of the dance. The oroshi marks a focused moment when tempo slows.
The Dōmeikai hayashi musicians group demonstrates kami-mai.The Dōmeikai hayashi musicians group demonstrates ha-no-mai.
Although the musical structure of all these dances is fundamentally the same, the differences in their tempos means that, for instance, the kami-mai may take eight minutes to perform, while the jo-no-mai may take up to fifteen. Since the costume and mask are also different, these dances appear as totally different to the audience.
Dances to instrumental music intended to enact another art form include gaku (dances to court music) and kagura (Shinto dance). These, too, are built around repeated flute passages and have five sections, but their melodies are unique to each. Gaku imitates the music for bugaku, which was introduced from the China, so the flute melody, instead of accenting the even-numbered beats, accents the odd numbered beats, beginning with beat 1. By making the odd number beats strong, the even number beats weak, and alternating strong and weak, gaku expresses a sense of foreignness distinct from indigenous Japanese music. For kagura, which imitates the music for ritual dances performed by shrine maidens (miko), the flute plays a yuri pattern with trills – represented in the solfèlege as a quick succession of notes “ra ra ra”. Although the flute melody is varied this way, the basic drum patterns remain the same as for other mai dances, with some special patterns inserted. Likewise, the basic choreography does not change, although the shite has more stamps in gaku and holds a stick with folded paper streamers (gohei) instead of a fan for kagura.
Instrumental music for ‘dramatic action’ dances (hataraki goto) include the ‘exorcism’ inori where a priest battles with the jealous spirit of a daemonic woman, the kakeri where a mother wandering in search of her lost child or a warrior in warrior’s hell are exposed, and the tachimawari performed by a courtier seeking to prove his love by coming nightly to her door or an old woman wandering through high mountains. For all except the maibataraki, the flute plays unmatched (non-congruent, ashirai) patterns drawing them out or shortening them as necessary while the drummers follow an eight-beat unit, all-be-it with varying tempos.
The Dōmeikai hayashi musicians group with actor Udaka Tatsushige demonstrate the kakari (introduction) of the kagura dance from the play Ema.Hayashi musicians demonstrate gaku.
Entrance music and other instrumental sections
Generally instrumental music plays before a figure appears on stage, setting the atmosphere and calling them out into the performance arena. The various types of entrance music reflect where the character stands on a scale of human to totally other worldly. For human figures (including figures in “dream nō” appearing the form of women and old men), neither flute nor hand drums play keeping a rhythmic pulse (examples are the shidai and nanoribue). Among human roles, crazed women, somewhat brave men, and old men, even if only in the guise of an old man, are introduced with more rhythmical playing in the hand drums, but unmatched flute melody (example: issei). In the second half when the character is not human, but a deity, spirit of a plant, or ghost of an aristocrat, the taiko joins the ensemble and the drums play with the beat, but the flute melody is not matched to their rhythms (example: deha). A demon, beast, malicious spirit, however, is announced with all the instruments matched to the eight-beat unit (example: hayafue).
Instrumental passages may bridge sections in the performance. In Hagoromo, for instance, for the onstage costume change (monogi) when the Shite retires to the rear and attendants place the feather robe (a chōken) on her, the hand drums and flute fill this time of suspended action with music timed to costuming (mihakarai). Sometimes instrumental music also accompanies exits before an interlude (example: raijo). Often the slow, stately raijo switches, after the Shite has disappeared, to lighter faster music announcing an ai-kyōgen who represents a deity from a subsidiary shrine. The musicians lighten their calls and beats to accompany the kyōgen dance.
Entrance and exit music type
Act
Description
Shidai
Act 1
Hand drums, sporadic flute. Hishigi, uneven calls. Followed by a shidai song. Tempo and style changes with character.
Issei
Act 1 or 2
Hand drums, sporadic flute. Calls out ghosts and spirits.
Nanori-bue
Act 1
Flute announcing single waki, who then sings a nanori passage.
Netori
Act 1
Flute played for silent shite entrance.
Deha
Act 2
Drums alone. Variable tempo, style and format depending on the character role
Hayafue
Act 2
Drums and flute playing melody. Generally with taiko. Very fast and vigorous. Introduces dragons, warriors, crazed spirits.
Sagariha (watari byōshi)
Act 2
Drums including taiko, flute. Begins phrases on beat one rather than two (typical of taiko pieces). Paced, expectant.
Raijō
Exit Act 1, kyogen entrance
Drums including taiko, flute. Slow, formal stately exit, slow, formal exit of tengu or spirit, followed by light quickened music for the entrance of a subsidiary god (kyogen).
Nakairi
End of act 1
Hand drums. Adjusted to the character role and scene.
Aesthetic features of nō music
Minimalism
The shōdan are performed with designated melodies and rhythmic patterns. These are slowed down or speeded up, the pitch raised or lowered, the tone strengthened or softened. The rhythms may be more dominant or subdued; the intervals between the beats lengthened for shortened to bring out the atmosphere and emotional tenor of the piece. Such variations create the interest of nō and are held important. As explained above, nō music uses small units assembled into segments, sections, and scenes to create a full piece. The same units are used for warriors and for beautiful ladies in love stories, for pieces only grand masters are allowed to play and for pieces performed by young novices. The number of commonly used units are few.
Kurai
At the root of the expressive capacity of nō lies the concept of kurai. The basic meaning of kurai is “rank” and Zeami in his Goi (Five Ranks) and Kyūi (Nine Ranks) used it to describe various levels of ability and capacity to create stage presence, or “effects”, which he expressed in mysterious imagery. Today, nō plays are classified by their kurai, with “masterful” pieces (taikyoku) having “heavy” kurai and beginner pieces having “light” kurai. The “weightier” kurai pieces are performed slowly with large intervals between beats and the pitch of the utai as well as the drummers’ calls is low. For lighter kurai nō, the tempo is faster and the song and calls pitched higher. There is an added gravity and subtlety of rendition to the high kurai. Still, even if a given nō is ranked as taikyoku, “high ranking” does not necessarily imply that the song or flute melody is particularly complicated, or that the drum patterns differ greatly from the standard ones. Special patterns might be inserted in one section, but fundamentally, all nō are performed with the same type of melodies and rhythmic patterns. It is the intent behind their rendition that distinguishes high and low, heavy and light, masterful and novice-like.
Basic posture (kamae), and walk (hakobi) are the two basic elements that lie at the core of all noh movements. Kamae is maintained throughout the whole performance, regardless of whether the character is standing, sitting, or moving. Similarly, hakobi refers to walking, an action performed by sliding the feet on the floor surface. Sliding step (suri-ashi) is the way actors walk on stage at all times, including entrances and exits. Kamae and hakobi may appear unnatural or bizarre to the inexperienced onlooker. Yet, as with other aspects of noh performance, they have both aesthetic and practical reasons to be. Costume dictates whole-body movement: walking from area to area of the stage, raising, lowering, circling the arms. The fan extends and modulates the arm movements. Focus on the hands is rare, on the fingers even rarer.
Nō scholar Yokomichi Mario has outlined four properties that characterize noh movement:
All noh movements arise from the basic stance, kamae, and return to that stance.
The basis of motion is the gliding walk, hakobi.
The working units of noh movement are combinations of arm and foot actions.
Emphasis is on flow.
Kamae 構エ
Kamae literally means ‘posture’, but also contains the meaning of ‘being ready to act’. This posture requires slightly bent knees, straight back, arms open to form an oval, chin pulled in, and weight slightly forward. Kamae is the starting point and the ending point of all movement sequences. The low center of gravity allows for a stable posture that can be maintained over long passages during which the actor may just stand and chant, but is required to keep still. Bent knees help keeping the feet on the floor during hakobi and prevent unintentional tottering. In addition, open arms create a support for the costume: as most costumes have large sleeves, keeping one or both arms open allows the gorgeously decorated sleeves to be displayed. Finally, pulling the chin in brings the mask close to the rest of the body, creating an overall compact figure.
Male kamae. Nō: Ominameshi. Shite: Udaka Michishige. Photo: F.M. Fioravanti.
Hakobi 運ビ
The verb hakobu, here in the form of noun, hakobi, means ‘to carry’. The actor slides one foot forward along the floor, briefly lifts the front of the foot, and shifts the weight onto the forward foot, so the back foot can slide forward. The upper body is thus kept at a constant height, which creates a sense of the figure gliding through space. A twist of the feet, together with the turn of the torso, shifts the view of the mask, and engages, or disengages, the character in direct address with another character. The stillness of the stance and the fluidity of movement keep the mask at the angle the actor has set. The sliding step also has practical implications, as the mask severely restricts peripheral vision. The actor slides the feet to maintain contact with the floor, and is also able to feel the slight gap between the wooden boards of the floor, helping to navigate the different areas of the stage. Kamae and hakobi are performed slightly differently depending on the shite or waki school.
Styles 役柄による構エと運ビ
The extent to which the feet are apart, the knees bent, and and arms at rest are away from the body depends on the character type. The role of a woman may require keeping the arms closer to the torso, with the right hand placed on the hip, thus creating a smaller upper-body shape. Feet are kept together, the toes set forward, and the steps are smaller. Performing the character of a powerful deity requires holding the arms farther from the torso, thus filling the costume and enlarging the overall body shape. The knees are more bent, the toes are turned out. At the beginning and end of certain movements, the actor switches to han-mi (lit. ‘half body’), a type of stance to be found in martial arts, in which the right or left half of the body is forward, creating an impression of strength.
Zeami’s depictions (copied by Zenchiku) of (left) the feminine mode (nyotai) and (right) the martial mode (guntai). Nikyoku santai ningyōzu (Figure Drawings of the Two Arts and Three Modes). 15th Century. Hosei University Noh Research Center. See the digitized manuscript here.
All movement in nō is formalized. Some scenes focus on recitation, while others have sustained action where the actors move from area to area of the stage while performing strings of set movements (kata), together with chant and music. Because of the uninterrupted flow of the action, these sections can be referred to as ‘dance’. Dance sections flow seamlessly from the stage action and also generally correspond to discrete units or segments (shodan) within the structure of a play.
Here the use of the term shimai is a modern device that limits its original meaning of 仕 “to do / act” and 舞 “to dance” indicating stage movement to sung text in general. This modern use reflects the custom of extracting danced portions from a play for the purpose of short presentations performed between full nō without mask or elaborate costume. Amateur recitals typically include many shimai.
The latter type of dance can be further divided into two subcategories: long instrumental dance pieces (舞 mai) and short instrumental pieces (働キ hataraki). While in dance to song the correlation with the words allows meaning to emerge more distinctly and accentuates the narrative, the dances to instrumental music capture the emotional or lyrical atmosphere of the moment, or of the play as a whole. Shimai and mai seamlessly flow one into the other. Also, non-dance movement sections flow in and out of dance.
A basic structure underlines all the dance sections of a nō performance, both shimai, and mai. Usually, dances begin upstage, either in front of the musicians or at upstage right (jōza), move straight forward, then to downstage right corner (sumi) and proceed to circle the stage once or multiple times before returning to the upstage area. This simple choreography appears in the routine performed by the shite the first time the chorus takes over the narration and is known as shodō. The same choreography serves as model for the simplest instrumental dance, known as an iroe. Most dance sections, however, have a more elaborate structure combining circling the stage with criss-crossing it along the diagonals and punctuating this movement through space with other kinds of gestures. As the dancer circles the stage or crosses it in diagonals he seems to approach the audience only to recede, making full use of the three-dimensional space. While at times the actions appear abstract, they serve to underscore the chanted text lending it a visual vector.
2. Shimai 仕舞 (dance to chant)
Shimai are sections of a play in which the shite (or sometimes the tsure) performs a dance together with the recitation of text. While the shite may sing a few lines, most of the recitation is performed by the chorus. A particular type of shimai, the kuse, has a musical and choreographic structure that is common across plays. Other types of shimai may differ more extensively in choreography depending on the play. Nevertheless, a loosely defined structure functions like a grammatical system in which beginnings and endings are indicated by standardized movement routines. Juxtaposed with the lyrics, even abstract kata (ground kata) can take on a meaning. Pointing with the fan may signify that the character is looking at birds flying across the sky, or at a valley below, at a distant landscape, or is addressing another character who may not be represented on stage. More realistic kata (design kata) are often used in shimai in order to enliven the dance and highlight specific lines of the text. These more graphic patterns are generally inserted sparingly in dances that appear earlier in the play, like the kuse, and more frequently in final dances ending the play, where they heighten the interest and intensity.
Shimai from Izutsu (Hōshō School), performed as an excerpt. Source: Hinoki Shoten.
Timing follows an ebb and flow dictated by the style appropriate to the character rather than the specific words in the text. Generally the movements are timed to whole phrases of text. During this line of chant spread the arms and step back. By the end of this line arrive at a certain point on stage. More precise matching of movement highlights a single word and the gesture tends to be more mimetic: stepping in an out of the torii (Nonomiya), looking into the well (Izutsu), striking an enemy (Atsumori).
Types of shimai
Shimai sections include kuse, performed to the kuse chant, which forms the central narrative scene in many plays; dan, another type of narrative scene where the song is in more regular rhythm; and final dances, which technically go by a variety of names reflecting the rhythm of the chant but which are loosely referred to as kiri. In addition, some entrance scenes, such as Sakagami’s michiyuki in Semimaru, constitute short dances.
Kuse
Kuse are loosely based on kuse-mai, a narrative dance-song which was popular in the early Muromachi period. Within a play, they are often used to narrate a story or to describe a scene. Performed as a part of the narrative kuse scene that forms the highlight of the first act or takes a central role in the second act, these dances often have a similar structure and use predominantly ground patterns. Kuse have the most formalized structure among shimai types. The structure is divided into two parts. The first part is sung in the lower register and the shite dances with the fan closed. The second is sung in the upper register. In the passage called age-ha or age-ōgi, between the two sections, the shite opens the fan, holds it in front of the face and sings a line at the higher pitch which will be maintained in the second part. Double kuse return to the lower pitch and repeat the ageha single line sung by the shite that sets a new upper register.
A kuse choreography typically begins with stamps (ashi byо̄shi), followed by a pointing and opening sequence (shikake hiraki). The shite then advances to the downstage-right corner (sumi e yuki), pivots at the corner (sumi tori), and then circle left to the upstage-center area (hidari e mawari). This structure may be enriched with the addition of extra kata or abbreviated, in adjustment to the number and content of the lines of the lyrics. A “small left-right” sequence (ko-zayū) ends the section and leads into the age-ha, which is followed by a “large left-right” sequence (ō-zayū) where the shite traverses the stage in diagonals, ending at center front. Various extra patterns might be inserted after this, but the concluding series of patterns involve going to the downstage-right corner, extending the fan (kazashi), and circling to the left ending in front of the hand drummers. Of note in this formal structure is the role the fan holds play in delineating the beginning, middle, and end. Despite the formality of the choreographic structure of a kuse, the correlation with the words gives meaning to the abstract patterns, which in context may appear more or less illustrative. Although design kata are used sparingly, their insertion serves to underscore important moments in the narrative.
Dan sections
Dan (lit. “section” or “scene”) are shimai sections centering on a specific image, sometimes coinciding with a property manipulated by the shite. While the choreography of kuse features mostly ground kata, interspersed with a few design kata, the structural looseness of dan sections allows for more frequent use of design kata. The result is a visually rich scene in which the shite moves without interruption. Not only is the choreography of dan sections less formalized than kuse, but also the musical features of dan pieces are not consistent across plays. The “bell scene” (kane no dan) in the play Miidera enacts the ringing of a bell. The “net scene” (ami no dan) in the play Sakuragawa depicts a mother scooping up cherry petals from a river. In the “jewel scene” (tama no dan) in the play Ama the shite, a woman diver, narrates how she retrieved a jewel from the dragon palace under the sea. Although the opening and closing patterns of these dan dances tend to follow the same structure as kuse dances, they do not include ageha and have looser structural rules, allowing for more explicit enactment of the narrative.
Final dances (kiri)
The final dance of a play, often following directly after an instrumental dance, are performed with the fan open and almost always forms a visual, kinetic, musical highlight bringing the narrative developed in earlier sections to a highlight (not necessarily a conclusion). The structure of such sections often addressed as kiri (end), varies, though most of them make use of sustained movement and abound in design kata. The text of these sections may be a stream of cumulative imagery drawing together elements from earlier passages. Accordingly, the dance may appear like a series of evocative movements, a more mimetic rendition of narrated encounter, or a dramatic contest of wills. Choreography follows the textual demands, with only a shadow of the formal structural units that define the kuse still latent in the staging.
Kiri ending scene from Funa Benkei. Shite: Udaka Tatsushige.
Other types of dances to song
A few danced sections in nō do not fall into the categories described above. Not all are named. Their choreographies tend to be an extension of the basic formula of traversing the stage in a left circle, like the shodō mentioned above, or a series of ground pattern fillers. Special examples coming at the beginning of a play are Sakagami’s michiyuki in the play Semimaru, and the opening scene of Hyakuman. In both cases, the inclusion of sustained movement series early in the play helps to evoke the crazed nature of the shite.
3. Mai 舞 (dance sections to instrumental music)
While shimai make use of the verbal, corporeal, and musical dimensions of performance to advance the narration of the story in a play, mai are “pure dances” lacking the verbal component. Mai are among the highlights of a play, and are usually performed when the story reaches its climax, and thus have a key role in the narration. Instrumental dances may occur when a character in the story performs a dance, for example in celebration of a fortuitous event. Often, however, mai have no explicit reference to the fact that a character is going to dance. These dances may be interpreted as expressions of the nature, or of the mental state of a character. By virtue of the lack of lyrics, mai able to capture the atmosphere of a play, concentrated in its central character, the shite. Most plays feature at least one instrumental dance, usually occurring toward the end of the play.
Dances to instrumental music can be generally subdivided in two subgroups:
Long instrumental dance sections. These relatively long dances mostly feature ground patterns.
Short instrumental dance sections (hataraki 働キ). “Action pieces”. These dances are shorter than mai and usually have only one or two sections.
3.1 Long instrumental dance sections
Although these long instrumental dances go by many names – the slow, quiet jo no mai, the medium-paced chū no mai, the vigorous otoko mai, the flowing haya mai, and the swift, godly kami mai – they all share the same choreographic and musical structure. Differences lie in the rendition of the music and style of the movement, as well as the costumes used to portray the characters that perform them. Three other dances share the same basic choreography, but have different flute tunes and variations in drum patterns: gaku, evoking a bugaku dance, kagura, evoking a dance done in a Shinto shrine, and kakko, performed as the shite mimics beating a small drum.
Hayamai dance in the maibayashi excerpt from the play Tōru (Hōshō School) Source: Tokyo University of the Arts.
The choreography of long dances can be seen as an extension of that of the kuse discussed above. It is made up of sections, called dan. The standard long mai has four or five dan, preceded by an introduction (kakari), and each is characterized by a different way of holding the fan. The actor changes the way the fan is held at the junctures between dan.
The progression is:
closed fan → open fan → fan held reversed in the right hand → fan held in the left hand → fan held reversed → open fan → extended fan.
Each change of fan hold occurs at a specific spot on the stage. The fan is first opened upstage right or center, the first backward-held fan at stage left; left-hand fan at downstage right, etc. The middle dan also have short passages called oroshi where the music slows and the dancer is still (see music chapter). Oroshi may also be characterized by sleeve manipulation and stamps.
Sometimes the mai are shortened from five dan to three or two dan, at other times they are extended to eight or even thirteen dan. In these cases, the fan holds and position on stage where the change occurs indicate which dan is skipped in an abbreviation. Closing the fan at the end of the mai sends the signal that a new set of dan will start at the beginning again. In such cases, the flute generally shifts the musical mode.
Chart of the long instrumental dance sections
DANCE NAME
DESCRIPTION
EXAMPLES
jo no mai 序之舞
Character type: female, rarely male. Slow, refined dance. Free rhythm opening (jō), usually 3 dan. With or without taiko.
Character type: Shite, tsure, kokata, both male and female. Medium tempo. 3 dan. With or without taiko. If the character is a female deity chū-no-mai is usually performed in the tennyo no mai variant.
Character type: Ghosts of noblemen, enlightened women. Strong, elegant, with increasing speed. 3,5,8,13 dan versions. With taiko. It is usually performed in the banshiki or ōshiki version.
Banshiki (higher flute pitch) version Tōru, Ama.Ōshiki (lower flute pitch) version Matsumushi.
Character type: Men who are alive in the narrative present. Fast, dynamic, masculine. 3 or 5 dan. Without taiko.
Ataka, Ashikari, Kosode Soga.
kami mai 神舞
Character type: Young gods. Very fast, vigorous. 3 or 5 dan. With taiko.
Takasago, Yumi Yawata, Awaji, Yōrō.
kagura 神楽
Character type: Shite or tsure. Goddesses, shrine priestesses (miko). Melody reminiscent of Shinto music (kagura). Graceful, but with wide sleeve movements. A Shintō wand used by shine priests replaces the fan, though it may be replaced by the fan after dan 3. Usually 5 dan, but can be shorter if the tsure dances it (kagura-dome). With taiko.
Tatsuta, Miwa, Makiginu
gaku 楽
Character type: Chinese men, strong gods. Music evoking an exotic atmosphere. Round uchiwa fan replaces the folding fan. Imposing, elegant. 5 dan. With taiko, usually.
With taiko: Kantan, Tsurukame, Shirahige, KikujidōWithout taiko: Tenko, Fujidaiko, Umegae.
kyū no mai 急之舞
Character type: Mostly female characters. Fastest tempo. With or without taiko. Extra-fast version: kyū-no-mai
Without taiko: Dōjōji, Momijigari (chū-no-mai shifts to kyū-no-mai) With taiko; Awaji(Konparu, Kongō)
kakko 鞨鼓
Character type: Boys. Begins as chū-no-mai and switches into special music later. Imitates playing drum hung at the waist, drumsticks substitute for the fan. Without taiko.
Jinen Koji, Kagetsu
ha no mai 破之舞
Character type: female. Short dance performed after jo-no-mai or chū-no-mai. Two dan. With or without taiko.
Without taiko: Nonomiya, Matsukaze. With taiko: Hagoromo, Kochō
shishi 獅子
Character type: Shishi (mythical lions) or a man performing a shishi dance. Has unique music and choreography.
Shakkyō, Mochizuki, Uchito-mōde.
midare 乱
Character type: Shōjō or the heron in Sagi. Has unique music and choreography.
Sagi, Midare
Style
As mentioned above, all the long mai are based on the same choreographic structure. What distinguishes the different mai–and they do appear quite distinct in performance, so much so one would not guess they are identical in form – is the style. Style is first and foremost apparent in the way an actor stands and walks. Tempo is also a factor: generally speaking, the jō-no-mai is slow, while the kami-mai is fast. Tempo implies not just speed, but also the impetus to the movements. Slow the feminine jō no mai may be, but it is never frozen. Rather, each gesture, drum phrase and melodic line swells and recedes like gentle waves in a deep ocean, gradually gaining overall speed as the mai progresses. The male otoko mai, in contrast, has sharply delineated beginnings and ends. It rides the beat rather than blurring it, its movements are vigorous and clearly punctuated. Kami mai, performed by vigorous deities, though significantly faster than otoko mai, has more grace and flow. The musicians and dancers focus on such details to turn a model format into a variety of distinct dances each with their own style. Of course, costume and mask also contribute to creating the image of each dance.
3.2 Short instrumental dance sections (hataraki 働キ)
Short instrumental dances range from brief passages that express the essence of a character, or the general mood of a scene, as with iroe (color dance), to dramatic scenes, such as the inori (exorcism dance). Composed of one or two sections (dan), these dances begin with standard pointing, moving to the corner, and circling left, but the rest of the dance may vary depending on the type. As with any other mai, these dances are based on set choreographies, but in some of the short instrumental dances, such as kakeri or tachimawari, the actors and musicians adjust the timing of gestures and music in a process called mihakarai (“watch and adjust”).
Iroe, kakeri and tachimawari, and standard kakeri are different types of stage circling routines and have relatively simple choreographies. The maibataraki is a sequence of abstract movements (left circling, large left-right, right circling) evoking the nature of a character: Gods, demons, or dragon deities perform maibataraki displaying their power.
Short instrumental dances also include less dance-like passages that incorporate more complex movements and enact a narrative in movement. For example, the kakeri in the play Utō (The Bird Catcher) is totally different from the standard kakeri. Here the ghost of a hunter returns and recounts his love of hunting. In particular, he relished hunting the baby utō chicks on the beach. The kakeri enacts sneaking up on a nest of chicks, striking at them with a stick, watching as birds scatter, retreating to the hashigakari as the hunter follows their flight and then cautiously closing in on the nest as they resettle, this time hitting his mark.
Other short musical pieces go beyond the boundaries of what one might want to call “dance.” The inori and kirikumi, are not only highly mimetic, they involve interaction among characters on stage and the focus of the scene is on the action. In an inori, Buddhist priests exorcise a demon by rubbing their prayer beads as the enemy tries to strike them with a mallet. The combat begins to chanting the sutras flows into the inori music section and returns to chanted text in a continuum of counter-attacks that makes it difficult to classify it as “dance,” though all the movements are choreographed. Kirikumi are fight scenes in which warriors draw swords and fall one after the other in various ways. They similarly have more interactive choreography than a standard dance.
The flute player Morita Mitsukaze (1931) categorized short instrumental dances into four types: iroe, brief passages that add color to the moment in women’s roles; kakeri, expressing the anguish of a madwoman or a warrior fallen into hell; maibataraki, embodying the power and vitality of a deity, ghost, or demon; and hataraki, incorporating realistic action dramatizing an event like the exorcism and the bird hunting described above, or a clash of swords in a fight scene.
Chart of the short instrumental dance sections
DANCE NAME
DESCRIPTION
EXAMPLES
iroe イロエ
Women, boys. Decorative. One left circling. Generally no taiko. Flute non-congruent.
Prayer vanquishing vengeful spirits. Strong shifts in tempo, special patterns evoke the fight between priest and shite. Three sections. With taiko. Flute non-congruent.
Dōjōji, Aoinoue, Kurozuka
kirikumi 切り組み
Swordfight. Two sections.With taiko. Flute congruent.
In nō, every action is choreographed using a vocabulary of set movements called kata 型. The action of the shite in a play is composed of kata sequences performed at different times and on different parts of the stage. Kata are timed to the musical and textual progression, thus providing a visual and kinetic counterpart to the lyrics that are sung. As with kamae and hakobi, though kata may be fundamentally the same, kata are adapted to the character type that performs them.
The lyrics are the foundation of a nō play. While the solo recitation of the lyrics is the ‘minimum degree’ of a nō performance, in a complete staging of a play this text is delivered by actors (performers enacting characters) and by a chorus. Long sections of the performance may appear as largely static, focusing on the recitation of internal monologues or of descriptive passages, rather than on movement. During these sections, actors stand or sit still and chant facing the audience or each other. In some cases, the chorus chants instead of the actors.
As the plot develops and the dramatic tension intensifies, movements are added to the words. In nō, movements do not accompany the entirety of the lyrics, but highlight specific passages, thus providing visual and kinetic dimensions to the recitation. Such movements rarely represent the actions of a character in a realistic manner (‘as they would appear in real life’), yet most of them are close enough to ‘real life’ actions to either appear as stylized versions of them or to evoke associations related to the words in the lyrics. These gestures are codified into units, called kata (型 ‘forms’), which are in turn connected to create sequences that, strung together, constitute the choreography of a play.
It is difficult to discern the ‘meaning’ of most kata without understanding the lyrics. To the uninitiated viewer, these may appear as abstract movements, sometimes interspersed with a few recognizable gestures reminiscent of everyday-life actions. This is because, in general, kata do not provide a true-to-life imitation of the part of the lyrics with which they are associated. The ambiguous semantics of kata elicit the active participation of the audience, who fills the gap between lyrics and movement. However, there are a few gestures whose meaning will be immediately recognizable even by the non-specialist, because they appear closer to their ‘real-life’ counterparts. As will be explained in better detail below, the choreography of a nō play loosely combines both kinds of gestures.
2. How to analyze nō movements
All kata are performed in accordance with strictly prescribed choreography, timed to lines and sometimes words in the lyrics and to music. In this sense all nō movement could be described as ‘dance,’ though certain sections comprised of sustained movement around the stage are designated in Japanese with the character for dance: these includemai 舞 (dance to instrumental music) and shimai 仕舞 (dance to chanted song). This means that the gestures of the shite actor, who is at once the main actor and the main narrator, may relate either to the lines associated with the character they represent or with any other content that is being expressed by the lyrics.
In order to disentangle the sophisticated interweaving of the dramatic and choreographic texts, we propose three approaches to nō movement analysis. The first two, “phenomenological analysis” and “semiotic analysis”, are inspired by Erika Fisher-Lichte’s theatre analysis outlined in The Routledge Introduction to Theatre and Performance Studies (2014), while the third, “formal analysis”, is an approach necessary when studying a highly codified art-form such as nō. Phenomenological and formal analysis differ in that the former considers the materiality of movements, while the latter considers their function within the choreographic text.
Phenomenological analysis 現象学的分析
A phenomenological analysis of movement considers the anatomy of the actor, the speed, rhythm, and proxemic aspects of gestures, the relationship between movements and position on the stage, etc. [1]
Analysis questions may be:
How does it look?
What sound does it make?
What is the speed of the movement?
Where on stage is the actor performing the movement?
What parts of the body are involved in the movement?
Semiotic analysis 象徴論的分析
Semiotic value refers to the meaning carried by the movement. A semiotic approach to performance analysis ‘focuses on the creation of meaning and the perceptual order of representation’. This kind of approach considers movements as signsand puts them in relation to meaning. Speaking of meaning, one enters the realm of reception which is, by definition, subjective. Movements are the visual representations of meanings that emerge from the lyrics. However, rather than being dictated by the dramatic text, meanings ultimately form in the mind of the spectator. A discussion of meaning should consider the various contexts in which the transmission thereof takes place. In the case of nō, the traditions that govern the signs used by performers may be shared at various degrees with their audience.
Analysis questions may be:
What does the movement mean?
How does the movement relate with the character?
What is the relationship between movement and lyrics?
Formal analysis 形式論的分析
Formal value refers to the structural function of movements in the larger context of the choreography. While all movements have a phenomenal dimension, not all of them necessarily carry semantic meaning. Certain movements may be performed because of their aesthetic, or formal value within the choreography. For instance, they may indicate an opening or a closure.
Analysis questions may be:
What is the role of the movement in relation with the rest of the choreography? Do they occur at set places on the stage or during the dance section?
What is the relationship between movements? Do they occur singly or in predictable series?
3. Categorization of kata
An attempt at categorization of nō movement may consider one or more of the approaches outlined above. It is important to state at the outset that, as with any other elements in nō, there is no unified, official way to categorize movements. We base our analysis on two major works in the field: that of Japanese scholar Yokomichi Mario (published in Iwanami Kōza Nō to Kyōgen, 1987) and American scholars Monica Bethe and Karen Brazell (published in Dance in the Noh Theatre, Cornell UP 1982). In addition, we examine these categorization types through the three performance analysis approaches outlined above.
Yokomichi (1987) suggests a categorization of nō movements into two types of units (which in our discussion we call kata): ‘basic blocks’ (kiso tangen) and ‘special blocks’ (tokutei tangen). He considers as ‘basic blocks’ those kata that have no univocal meaning. By contrast, ‘special blocks’ are movements that have a univocal meaning. Following a subdivision shared by other Japanese scholars, Yokomichi’s subdivision is largely based on the semantic value that is associated with each movement (semiotic analysis).
A more complex categorization of kata is offered by Monica Bethe and Karen Brazell (1982). Kata are divided into two main groups: ‘ground patterns’ and ‘design patterns’. Ground patterns are more frequently performed and form the groundwork for most dance sections. They can also carry a meaning that depends on the context. Design patterns, instead, are performed less frequently, usually at highlight passages of the play, and tend to carry more specific meaning. In addition, design patterns are further divided into ‘dance-like’, or ‘abstract’ movements, closer to ground patterns in that their relationship with meaning is ambiguous, and ‘mimetic’ movements, whose appearance is close to ‘real-life’ gestures, hence they directly denote meaning. Bethe & Brazell further subdivide both ground and design patterns into groups such as ‘foot patterns’, fan-centered patterns’ or ‘body-centered patterns’. It appears that, while Yokomichi’s approach was largely semiotic, Bethe & Brazell’s categorization mixes phenomenological analysis (what part of the body is involved in the movement) with semiotic analysis (what is the relationship between movement and meaning), and formal analysis (how frequently a movement is performed, and how it is collocated in the choreography).
The two approaches outlined above are not in contrast. Yokomichi’s ‘basic units’ generally coincide with Bethe & Brazell’s ‘ground patterns’ because their abstract appearance is prone to multiple use and semantic interpretations. Again, Yokomichi’s ‘special patterns’ generally coincide with Bethe and & Brazell’s ‘design patterns’ because their more realistic appearance makes them less ambiguous. Because of their realistic appearance, they are less versatile: they can be used to convey fewer meanings as opposed to the more abstract ground patterns. As a consequence, they occur more rarely than ground patterns. It appears that phenomenal, semiotic, and formal dimensions of movement are interconnected, though they can be analyzed separately.
The table below summarizes the Yokomichi and Bethe & Brazell’s categorization, considering phenomenological analysis (simple to complex, abstract to mimetic movements) semiotic analysis (ambiguous to univocal meaning), and formal analysis (frequency of use of movement in a play). The dotted lines between each column represent the continuum between ideal extremes, on which various kata can be found. In our current research we are going to consider the two groups (basic/ground, special/design) under the name ground kata and design kata.
Ground kata
This category contains kata such as standing/sitting, step back/forward, move around the stage, turn, jump, or stamp. It also contains recurring kata such as shikake (pointing), hiraki (opening), sayu (left-right pointing sequences), uchikomi (sweeping fan movements) etc. Movements in this category may be considered as ‘basic’ because they are frequently performed and because they have no exclusive use. Some of these kata (e.g. shikake-hiraki, stamps, sayu, shitome) are used for formal purposes as a means of starting or concluding a dance sequence. The different ways of holding a fan also may also have no semantic meaning in connection with the narrative, but have formal purposes in the choreography.
For example, as Yokomichi (237) points out, foot stamps may be used as an embellishment in an abstract dance (mai), lacking semantic meaning but carrying formal value or stamps may be as an expression of happiness, thus carrying semiotic value. The same can be said of shikake-hiraki, sayu, and other basic kata. The semiotic interpretation of such kata is ultimately determined by the lines that are chanted as they are performed. Since a semiotic analysis of ground kata is impossible without context, we have added here only a description of the action and the formal analysis of its choreographic use for each kata.
Rules govern how these basic kata that create the framework for all dances are strung together in series and how they function as ‘grammatical’ indicators. For instance, The ‘ko-zayū, uchikomi, hiraki’ series, where only one step is taken in each left-right direction of the ko-zayū, often occurs at the end of a dance, or of a section in a dance. On the other hand, the large ‘ō-zayū, uchikomi, hiraki’ series occurs in the middle of a dance, just after an internal break, such as the ageha in a kuse dance where the shite interrupts the chorus and sings a solo line. These are not the exclusive uses of these two kata series, but they are typical uses.
Ground Kata examples
Pattern name
Description
Formal analysis
Mawari
Circle the stage.
Various uses.
Sashikomi (shikake)
Point while stepping forward.
Generally followed by hiraki.
Hiraki
Spread the arms while stepping back.
Follows a point pattern and serves as a closure
Ashibyōshi
Foot stamps.
Single or multiple. When multiple they follow the rhythm of the hayashi, and are usually performed at prescribed points.
Ko-zayū
Step left then right.
It is often performed at the end of a dance sequence.
Ō-zayū
As ko-zayū, but with 3, 5, or 7 steps between shifting direction.
It is often followed by uchikomi and hiraki.
Uchikomi
Circle the right arm out, then back to the sternum, and point.
Performed as one step forward after a ko-sayū, several steps after an ō-zayū. Often followed by a hiraki. It can also be an independent pattern.
Age-ha
Starting with the open fan in front of the face, circle the fan up and out to the right while stepping back.
Accompanies the beginning of a new section, often within a larger segment, such as in the middle of the kuse or the beginning of the first dan in a long instrumental dance
Kazashi
At sumi circle the fan to the point position and extend the fan hold, then circle left.
Sometimes signals the end of a dance section and at times followed by a ko-sayū at upstage right or center.
Design kata
These kata occur less frequently then ground kata and tend to be associated with a more specific semantic meanings. However, though they are less abstract – hence less versatile – than ground kata, not all design kata have a univocal meaning. For instance, the kata called hane ōgi or ‘feather fan’, involves bringing the open fan held in the right hand across the chest so it rests on the left upper arm and then sweeping it out and to the right until the arm is extended to the right. The action can be repeated to create a sense of the wind blowing. The same action, however, is used in Nonomiya to suggest brushing dew from a fence. Another kata, called shiori, is often interpreted as ‘crying’, though it may represent another state of sorrow, not necessarily implying the shedding of tears. It may be safer to say that design kata, because of their ambiguous appearance, can be associated with a more limited number of meanings in conjunction with the text. These kata are added to fill out the ground framework of a dance or to highlight a moment in the narrative. A core group of design kata are centered on fan manipulation and most of these have names that include the word ōgi (‘fan’).
In addition, a large number of actions, thought of as kata, are described rather than having names. These include mimetic actions like scooping water or burdening a heavy object, methods of handing objects like sticks or hats, manipulation of the large sleeves, which might be twirled around the arm, or thrown over the head like a veil, and head movements focused on the mask.
Design kata examples
Kata name
Description
Semiotic analysis
Uchi-wake, or Kumo no ōgi (cloud fan)
Bring the open extended fan and left hand together in front of the chest and then while stepping backwards, spread both arms to the side, lifting the extended fan high.
Suggests looking into the distance
Kakae ōgi (cradled fan) or Tsuki no ōgi (moon fan)
Bring the open fan to rest on the left shoulder facing up and look out to the right.
Suggests looking into the distance. Often used to express viewing the moon.
Makura no ōgi (Pillow fan)
Raise the open fan nestled in the crook of the left arm so it obscures the face. To hide the face from view, execute the pattern facing right. Kneel with the right foot on the floor, left knee up.
Imitative of resting the head on a pillow, the kata often indicates sleeping, but it is also used to express embarrassment.
Hane ōgi (Feather fan)
Bring the extended fan held in the left hand to rest on the right shoulder. Next sweep the extended fan out to the left. This can be repeated and is often done walking across the stage diagonally.
Suggests wind blowing, but also arrows being shot.
Uchiawase
With open fan, bring the right and left hands together at hip level. Lift them up and out to the sides, extending the left hand, then quickly bring the hands together in a silent clap.
Expresses a sudden feeling or realization. When performed repeatedly, it may suggest flapping wings.
Maneki ōgi (Beckon fan)
Stepping back, bring both hands down to the side, extending fan and left fingers. Then lift both arms straight up till they are above the head. Bend the elbows, then straighten them and lower them in an arc to in front of the chest moving forward. It can be repeated and done with one or both arms.
Mimics a traditional Japanese beckoning gesture, but is used also to express falling rain, or treasures, or a breeze.
Muna-zashi (Chest point)
Circle the fan out to the right, in an arc in front of the body, down to the waist, and up along the body’s central axis and then straight out to point front.
Strongly see or identify an object.
Yūken
Begin like a muna-zashi, but instead of pointing, continue to circle the fan up and out to the right and down. It can be repeated, like drawing a figure eight in the air.
Used to express intense emotion.
Shiori
Bring one or both hands close to the eyes
Used to express sorrow.
Gasshō
Bring two hands together, palms facing up, with fingertips touching.
Mimics the gesture of praying, but can also be used to express gratefulness.
Notes
[1] Fischer-Lichte, Erika. The Routledge Introduction to Theatre and Performance Studies. Routledge, 2014, p. 55. Phenomenal value refers to the ‘perceptual order of presence’, that is, to their physical manifestation. A semiotic approach to performance analysis ‘focuses on the creation of meaning and the perceptual order of representation’. Phenomenal value is intrinsic to any movement as it is perceived, yet this does not make it an absolute value. Just because phenomenal value depends on individual perception, it may differ depending on who perceives the object.
Names of kata often differ by acting school and sometimes are phrase descriptions. The list here uses the Kanze terms, the translations are based on the Japanese names and included here merely to provide an image.
All the movements performed on a noh stage, including the entrance and exit of the performers, the way properties are manipulated by the assistants, and all the gestures of the actors and musicians, are set. In the past, performances used to have a greater degree of improvisation, with the shite actor being able to signal to the musicians whether to extend, shorten, or modify dances as they were performed. Currently, actors respect choreographies and do not introduce major changes during performance. However, a certain flexibility in how movements are executed is allowed.
Though noh performance may appear to be simple and static in comparison with other performing arts, it is actually very sophisticated and physically challenging. The minimalism of choreography and of the overall stage setting requires great precision in order for movements to be executed correctly. The movement vocabulary of the actors is restricted, and is generally well known by an audience which is often composed in the major part by amateurs and enthusiasts. When form is so precisely predetermined, any diversion from the model is easily noticed.
Costumes influence the movements, limiting some, enlarging others. Tightly wrapped skirts demand small steps, broad open sleeves enhance the whole arm movements but hide the hands. Weighty crowns require the head to be held steady. The small eyes openings on most masks restrict vision so the actor must “see” with the soles of his feet.
The soundscape of nō – a combination of chant and instrumental music – can be haunting, plaintive, melodic, delicate, strident, or energetic. The words stand at the center, offering not only meaning, but also poetic metrics that inform the drumming. The spoken, chanted, or sung words are carried by melody, and the flute enhances the atmosphere or leads a dance. Drums and flute set the scene in entrance passages announcing the character’s appearance. As with the dance, music is never improvised, but follows specific rules that nevertheless allow for onstage adjustment among performers.
Each dan, or scene within an act (ba) of a noh play is further divided into smaller subsections called shōdan, which are the basic building-block units of a performance text. These shōdan have names, some of them dating back to Zeami’s time (like shidai, ageuta), others formalized later. Each has a set poetic, rhythmic, musical, or kinetic form. In addition, certain of the shōdan appear in specified places in the text (like the kuse which contains a core narration by the chorus, usually for the shite). Seminal work by Yokomichi Mario in the mid-twentieth century coined the term shōdan, defining and categorizing the existing ones and noting standard progressions of shōdan series. He identifies three main categories: those with chanted text (utai-goto), those played by the instruments without chant (hayashi-goto), and those that are performed insilence (shijima-goto), such as silent entrances, or exists). Utai-goto (e.g. sashi, ageuta, and kuse) are characterized primarily by their poetic form and melodic-rhythmic style, while hayashi-goto include entrance and exit music by the drums and flute as well as instrumental accompaniment to dances (mai and hataraki) and other non-textual stage action like onstage costume changes (monogi). Scholars today use shōdan analysis as one means of identifying authorship.
Sung shōdan are discrete units defined by their linguistic and rhythmic characteristics, including whether or not they are accompanied by the drums. Standard shōdan are named in the utaibon (chant book), though sections of text in some noh are left unlabeled. The language is either in prose (sanbun) or poetry (inbun). Poetic text is either loosely formulated or has the strict 7+5 syllable count typical of Japanese poetry. Speech (kotoba) is in prose and has no metric or rhythmic definition, though it follows a loosely defined vocal contour. Most passages in poetry are accompanied by the hand drums (ko-tsuzumi and ō-tsuzumi) and embellished with short flute passages. When thestick drum (taiko) joins the ensemble, it accompanies passages in free rhythm or in ōnori (whole-beat) rhythm. The stick drum generally enters towards the end of the play.
Utai-goto can be further subdivided into smaller categories.
Rhythm category
Rhythmic system
Chant
Matched
hiranori
fushi; matched to the beat
chūnori
fushi; matched to the beat
ōnori
fushi; matched to the beat
Unmatched
sashinori
fushi: independent of the beat
einori
fushi: independent of the beat
Speech
kotoba, no drums
no fushi; stylized speech
Matched (or congruent) (hyōshi ai) rhythm adheres to an eight-beat rhythmic unit and is always accompanied by the drums. In the utaibon, these passages have sesame-seed marks (fushi) next to the syllables of text indicating the melodic and rhythmic contour. The matched styles of chant are further subdivided by the system by which the syllables match the beat:
Hiranori, the most common, spreads the 12 syllables of a 7+5 poetic line over the 16 half beats of the rhythmic 8-beat line in a syncopated manner where certain syllables are extended.
Unmatched (or non-congruent) (hyōshi awazu) rhythms have a loose flow. The recitative-like sashinori occurs frequently, while the more melismatic einori is reserved for reciting waka poems. The drums accompanying unmatched chant play an independent line that converges with the song at the end of the passage.
Prose sections are most often in stylized speech (kotoba) without drum accompaniment
Characteristics of utai-goto shōdan
The following chart shows the correlation between the poetic meter of the text, the rhythmic and melismatic characteristics of the chant, and the type of instrumental accompaniment. These three attributes combine to define the general shōdan category. A given shōdan category often includes more than one named shōdan. For example, the “uta” category (strict meter, hiranori rhythm, hand drums play) contains the following shōdan: “ageuta” centered on the upper register (higher pitched), “sageuta” centered on the lower register (middle and lower pitch), as well as “shidai,” an introductory song and “rongi,” a longer narrative section.
Shōdan type
Rhythm and melody
Meter
Instruments
Shōdan examples
kotoba
Kotoba (free)
Speech (sōrō-chō, nari-chō)
none
nanori, katari, (dialogue)
kotoba (dialogue)
Free rhythm, fushi (indication of melody)
Prose, unmetered poetry
none
mondō, kakeai
sashi
Sashinori / sustained pitch with fushi (melisma) at end of line
Loose poetry
Large and small drum: unmatched rhythm (awazu)
sashi Single lines in mondō and kakeai
kuri
Free rhythm / highly melismatic, rises to kuri pitch, ends in honyuri pattern
Strict poetry (7-5 lines or Chinese poems in parallel structure)
Large and small drum: unmatched rhythm (awazu), flute
chūnori-ji (typically the kiri of a warrior piece)
Ōnori (whole-beat match)
Poetry of varied syllable count
All drums*: matched to whole beats. *Taiko + hand drums, but for plays that do not include the taiko, just the hand drums play ōnori).
ōnori-ji (typically at the end of plays after a mai instrumental dance)
Examples of utai-goto shōdan
Shidai 次第: A brief introductory chant sung in standard matched rhythm (hiranori) by one or more actors. The last two lines are repeated by the chorus (jitori) in a low pitch in free rhythm, although this is not always indicated in the libretti. The poetic meter is 7/5, 7/5, 7/4 syllables. The shidai serves as a thematic prelude to the play and is usually sung by the waki (and wakizure, if any) immediately after the shidai entrance music, when the actors have assembled on the stage proper.
Issei 一声: a vocal passage sung by the shite or waki, usually to non-matched rhythm. In the case of the chant being sung by shite, is often sung by characters in a heightened state.
Nanori 名ノリ: name introduction. Conventionally, the nanori is performed by the waki, or at times by the shite or tsure, while standing at the upstage right corner of the stage. This location on the noh stage is called nanori-za (also called jōza) and is next to the shite pillar. Waki nanori are generally spoken (kotoba), while shite nanori are often chanted.
Sashi サシ: Unmetered text to unmatched rhythm sung by the shite (or by the shite with the shite-tsure), or, in some cases by the waki (or by the waki with the waki-tsure). If the sashi is sung by the shite, usually the chorus takes over after the first lines. Sashi also occur after the kuri and before the kuse shōdan in the typical kuri-sashi-kuse sequence. In the sashi only the last few syllables of each sentence are modulated by fushi, or melismatic embellishment. This way of chanting is used both in the yowagin and tsuyogin modes, and is commonly referred to as sashi-utai, a style used to sing lines that are sashi shōdan.
Sageuta 下歌: Short 7+5 syllable chant sung at a low pitch, in hiranori rhythm. It often precedes the ageuta.
Ageuta 上歌: Long 7+5 syllable chant sung at a high pitch in hiranori rhythm. It is often used in lyrical passages or for descriptions of scenery or narration of stories. It can be found in michiyuki “travel songs” or machiutai “waiting songs”.
Mondō 問答: Literally “question and answer”, mondō is a dialogue between characters. It is performed in kotoba (speech) mixed with recitative (shashinori) style.
Kuse クセ: Kuse are a core section of a play, often dedicated to the narration of events crucial to the story, or to the narration of past events that can illustrate themes developing in the play. Kuse can occur in the first or in the second half of the play. The kuse focuses on the shite, who may either be seated (iguse) or may dance. Derived from the kusemai dances prevalent in the 14th and 15th centuries, a full kuse scene would include a series of shōdan: shidai, kuri, sashi, and kuse. This may be abbreviated by deleting the first one or two shōdan in the series. Kuse are often followed by an instrumental dance. The kuse is sung in hiranori rhythm, either in yowagin or tsuyogin modes. The chorus sings most of the chant, with one or two single lines in the middle called ageha sung by the shite. This shite line shifts the pitch from a lower register to the upper register. See also DANCE.
Waka 和歌: Lyrical passages sung after an instrumental dance, or that frame the dance with the opening lines sung as an introduction and the full poem sung at the conclusion of the dance. The composition of these poems follows the 5-7-5-7-7 meter typical of the waka poetry form. Waka passages in nō are sung in unmatched rhythm, typically einori.
The instruments also play sections without chant. These include entrances and exits, on-stage costume changes, and dances to instrumental music. The two hand drums may play alone, with the flute entering occasionally, or the flute may lead. In nō that include the taiko, the stick drum generally enters in the second act or towards the end of a one-act play. Sometimes the taiko joins the ensemble for only one or two shōdan, ceasing to play before the end of the nō.These shōdan are described in better detail in the INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC and DANCE sections.
Examples of entrance music pieces 登場音楽の例
Shidai 次第: Slow and formal introductory instrumental music for the waki (or, less often, the shite) played by the ko-tsuzumi and ō-tsuzumi with nōkan (flute) passages. It is composed of three sections which are often abbreviated to two or even to one. The nōkan begins with a piercing hishigi pattern; then the two hand drummers play repeating ground patterns noted for their uneven pulse and the elongated vocal calls (kakegoe).
Naka-iri 中入り: Literally, ‘go inside’. Played when the shite or waki or tsure exit the stage along the hashigakari. Usually the naka-iri is performed in the middle of the play and signals the end of the first ba.
Haya-fue 早笛: Literally, ‘fast flute’. A musical passage for a hayashi-goto shōdan, played to introduce a powerful character such as a god or a spirit. After the introductory pattern is played, the curtain is quickly lifted. The character appears on the hashigakari, or proceeds rapidly to the stage.
Monogi ものぎ: A passage in which the shite dons a costume or headgear with the assistance of kōken stage assistants. This costuming can take place at kōken-za, upstage right, or on the stage proper. During the costuming, the ko-tsuzumi and ō-tsuzumi play a slow, repeating pattern, which the nōkan (flute) joins at times. The musicians adjust the duration of their music to the actual time needed for the costuming.
The INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC section has a longer description of entrance/exit shōdan.
Examples of dance sections 舞用囃子の例
Iroe イロエ: Brief circling of the stage by the shite in roles of graceful female characters, accompanied by soft music.
Chu-no-mai 中ノ舞: A medium length instrumental dance performed by the shite or shite-tsure to a moderate tempo. It usually has an introduction (kakari) and three sections (dan). The dance can be performed with or without the taiko.
Maibataraki: 舞働 Short dance to fast instrumental music performed by strong characters such as gods, dragons, demons or spirits. It can take various forms, from a simple circling of the stage to more complex movements including mimetic gestures.
The DANCE section has a more complete description of the types of instrumental dances.
3. How shōdan are connected 小段の繋ぎ方
Scholar Yokomichi Mario sees the typical progression of shōdan to be
formal beginning → less structured development → more structured development
Thus the opening scene of many plays follows this structure:
Shidai (strict poetry 7-5, 7-5, 7-4 to matched drums, most structured)
Nanori (speech, prose, no drums)
Sashi (loose poetry, unmatched drums, often omitted)
Michiyuki, a type of ageuta (strict poetry to matched drums)
Likewise, the full kuse scene derived from a kusemai (a narrative dance performed by women entertainers and incorporated into the nō by Kan’ami) consists of:
Shidai (most structured)
Kuri (ornate, often pairs of parallel lines, sung freely with many decorative melismatic extensions of syllables and ending with a long drawn-out syllable accompanied by melodic interplay on the flute)
Sashi (recitative in loose poetry, unmatched drums)
Kuse (varied poetic lines; beginning in the lower register, rising to the higher register, ending on the lowest note.)
The principles of abbreviation and duplication apply. So, a simpler first scene would be:
Nanori → michiyuki (ageuta)
A simplified kuse scene is often just
Sashi → kuse
An extended kuse scene would keep the full form:
shidai → kuri → sashi → kuse
but double the parts of the kuse itself and end with the words that appear in the opening shidai.
